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HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 




Painted hy herself, llffizi, FloreJice 



MADAME LE BRUN 



Fi'ontispiec 



HEROINES OF 
FRENCH SOCIETY 

IN THE COURT, THE REVOLUTION 
THE EMPIRE, AND THE RESTORATION 



By 

Mrs.;, Bearne 

Author of ''A Queen of Napoleon's Court," 
" Early Valois Queens," etc., etc. 



ILLUSTRATED 




NEW YORK 

E. P. BUTTON AND COMPANY 

31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET 
MCMVH 



> ■^^: 



/^/3J^/0 






{All rights resei-ved.) 



THIS BOOK 

IS DEDICATED 

TO 

ANNA AND KATE 



PREFACE 



IN the histories of the four women whose lives 
are here related, I have tried, as far as is 
possible in the limited space, to give an idea of the 
various ways in which the Revolutionary tempest 
at the close of the eighteenth century and the 
eventful years which preceded and followed it, 
affected, and were regarded by, persons of the 
different parties and classes to which they belonged. 

The characters of the four heroines form as 
strong a contrast as their circumstances, principles, 
and surroundings. 

In Mme. Le Brun, the most gifted of all, we see 
a beauty, a genius, and a woman unusually charm- 
ing and attractive, thrown, before she was sixteen, 
into the society of the magnificent, licentious court 
of Louis XV. Married to a dissipated, bourgeois 
spendthrift, for whom she had never cared ; sought 
after, flattered, and worshipped in all the great 
courts of Europe ; courted by fascinating, un- 
scrupulous men of the highest rank, without the 
protection of family connections and an assured 



viii PREFACE 

position ; yet her religious principles, exalted 
character, and passionate devotion to her art, 
carried her unscathed and honoured through a 
life of extraordinary dangers and temptations. 

She emigrated early, and far from being, as in 
most cases, a time of poverty and hardship, her 
exile was one long, triumphant career of prosperity. 

Owing to her brilliant success, to the affection 
and friendship which surrounded her wherever she 
went, to her absorbing interest in her art, the de- 
lightful places and society in which she spent her 
time, and also to her own sunny, light-hearted 
nature, her long life, in spite of certain serious 
domestic drawbacks and sorrows, was a very happy 
one. Her wonderful capacity for enjoyment, her 
appreciation of beauty in nature and art, the great 
interest she took in matters intellectual and political, 
her pleasure in the society of her numerous friends, 
and her ardent devotion to the rehgious and 
royahst principles of her youth, continued un- 
diminished through the peaceful old age which 
terminated her brilliant career. 

With the same religious and political principles, 
the conditions of life which surrounded the Mar- 
quise de Montagu were totally different. A contrast 
indeed to the simple, artistic household, the early 
grief, poverty, and hard work, the odious step-father, 
the foolish mother, the worthless husband and 
daughter, the thousand difficulties and disadvan- 
tages which beset Mme. Le Brun, were the state 
and luxury, the sheltered life, the watchful care, and 
powerful protection bestowed upon the daughter 
of the house of Noailles ; her mother, the saintly, 



PREFACE ix 

heroic Duchesse d'Ayen, her husband the gallant, 
devoted Marquis de Montagu. 

She also was thrown very early into society ; but 
she entered it as a member of one of the greatest 
families in France, surrounded by an immense 
number of relations of the highest character and 
position. 

Neither a genius nor yet possessed of any great 
artistic or intellectual talent, without worldly am- 
bition, little attracted by the amusements of society, 
she was a sort of mixture of a grande dame and a 
saint. 

The lofty asceticism of her theories and practice 
was perhaps almost too severe for ordinary mortals 
living in the world, and in some respects better 
adapted for a monastic than a secular life ; her 
emigration, so long delayed, was no time of success 
and happiness : long years of terror, danger, poverty, 
fearful trials, and sorrows endured with heroic 
fortitude and angelic patience, passed before she 
was restored to France and to the ancient castle 
which was the home and refuge of her later life. 

In Mme. Tallien we have a woman exactly oppo- 
site to the other two in character, principles, and 
conduct. Differing from both of them in birth and 
circumstances — for she was the daughter of a 
Spanish banker of large fortune — with extraordinary 
beauty, the hot, passionate blood of the south, a 
nature, habits, and principles undisciplined by 
authority and unrestrained by religion, she was 
early imbued with the creed of the revolutionists, 
and carried their theories of atheism and licence to 
the logical consequences. 



X PREFACE 

Yet the generosity and kindness of her heart, and 
the number of victims she saved, outweighed, 
though without effacing, the disorders of her earHer 
Hfe,^ during the latter part of which, as the wife of 
a CathoHc, royahst prince, whose love she returned 
and to whose opinions she was converted, she 
deeply regretted the errors of Notre Dame de 
Thermidor. 

In Mme. de Genlis we have a fourth and more 
complex type, a character in which good and evil 
were so mingled that it was often hard to say which 
predominated. With less beauty than the other 
three but singularly attractive, with extraordinary 
gifts and talents, with noble blood and scarcely any 
fortune, she spent a childhood of comparative 
poverty at her father's chateau, where she was only 
half educated, and at seventeen married the young 
Comte de Genlis, who had no money but was 
related to most of the great families of the kingdom. 

From this time began her brilliant career. 
Essentially a woman of the world, delighting in 
society and amusement, though always praising the 
pleasures of solitude and retirement, she entered the 
household of the Duchesse d'Orleans, wife of the 
infamous Philippe-Egalite, and while constantly 
declaiming against ambition managed to get all her 
relations lucrative posts at the Palais Royal, and 
married one if not both her daughters to rich men 
of rank with notoriously bad reputations. 

Perpetually proclaiming her religious principles 

^ Tallien, on hearing of her proposed marriage with the Prince 
de Chimay, remarked, " Elk a bean faire, ellc sera toiijoiirs 
Madame Tallien." 



PREFACE xi 

and loyalty to the throne, she was suspected of 
being concerned in the disgraceful libels and 
attacks upon the Queen, was on terms of friendship 
with some of the worst of the revolutionists, re- 
joiced in the earliest outbreaks of the beginning of 
the Revolution, and while she educated the Orleans 
children with a pompous parade of virtue and 
strictness, was generally and probably rightly 
looked upon as the mistress of their father. 

She was a strange character, full of artificial 
sentiment, affectation, and self-deception, and, 
unhke the first three heroines of this book, the 
mystery and doubts which hung over her have 
never been cleared up. 

Against the saintly Marquise de Montagu no 
breath of scandal could ever be spoken. Such 
calumnies as were spread against Mme. Le Brun, 
the work of the revolutionists, who hated her only 
for her religion and loyalty, never believed by those 
whose opinion would be worthy of consideration, 
soon vanished and were forgotten. 

The liaisons of Mme. Tallien had nothing 
doubtful about them. 

But the stories against Mme. de Genlis have 
never been cleared up. Much that was said about 
her was undoubtedly false, but there remain serious 
accusations which can neither be proved nor dis- 
proved ; and that a long, intimate friendship 
between a prince of the character of Philippe- 
Egalite and a young, attractive woman who was 
governess to his children should have been no 
more than a platonic one, passes the bounds of 
credibility. 



xii PREFACE 

The history of Mme. de Genlis in the emigration 
differs from the other two, for having contrived to 
make herself obnoxious both to royalists and 
republicans her position was far worse than 
theirs. 

But the deep affection she and her pupils dis- 
played for each other, the devotion and kindness 
she showed them during their misfortunes, the 
courage and cheerfulness with which she bore the 
hardships and dangers of her lot, and the remorse 
and self-reproach which, in spite of the excellent 
opinion she usually entertained of herself, do occa- 
sionally appear in her memoirs, prove that many 
good qualities existed amongst so much that was 
faulty. 

As to her writings, then so much in vogue, they 
were mostly works intended either to explain, assist, 
or illustrate the system of education which was the 
hobby of her life and which, if one may judge by 
"Adele et Theodore," one of the most important 
of her tales, can only be called preposterous. 

That the false sentiment, the absurd rules of life, 
the irksome, unnecessary restrictions, the cramping 
and stifling of all the natural affections and feelings 
of youth here inculcated should have been regarded 
with approval, even by the sourest and most solemn 
of puritans, seems difficult to believe ; but that in 
the society of Paris at that time they should have 
been popular and admired is only another example 
of the inconsistency of human nature. She had a 
passion for children, but kindness to animals does 
not seem to have been one of the virtues she taught 
her pupils. We may hope that the fearful little 



PREFACE xiii 

prigs described as the result of her system never 
did or could exist. 

I have endeavoured to be accurate in all the 
dates and incidents, and have derived my informa- 
tion from many sources, including the " Memoires 

de Louis XVIII., receullis par le Due de D ," 

Memoires de la Comtesse d'Adhemar, de Mme. 
Campan, MM. de Besenval, de Segur, &c., also 
the works of the Duchesse d'Abrantes, Comtesse de 
Bassanville, Mme. de Crequy, Mme. de Genlis, Mme. 
Le Brun, MM. Arsene Houssaye, de Lamartine, 
Turquan, Dauban, Bouquet, and various others, 
besides two stories never yet published, one of 
which was given me by a member of the family to 
which it happened ; the other was told me in the 
presence of the old man who was the hero of it. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface ...,..• vii 



I 

MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 



CHAPTER I 

The ancien regime — Close of the reign of Louis XIV. — The 
Regent Orleans— The court of Louis XV.— The philo- 
sophers — The artists— M. Vigee 3 



CHAPTER II 

The childhood of Lisette— Extraordinary talent— The convent 
— The household of an artist— Death of M. Vigee — 
Despair of Lisette — Begins her career — Re-marriage of 
her mother — The Dauphine , . . -15 



CHAPTER III 

Brilliant success of Lisette — Love of her art — The Vernet 
— Life in Paris before the Revolution — Mme. Geoffrin 
— Marriage of Lisette to M. Le Brun — A terrible pre- 
diction . . . . . . -29 



xvi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IV 

PAGE 

Marie Antoinette — Birth of Mme Le Brun's daughter — The 
Royal Family — Brussels — Antwerp — The charms of 
French society — The Opera ball — An incident in the 
Terror — A Greek supper — Lcjcu de la Rciue . . 45 

CHAPTER V 

The theatre — Raincy — Chantilly — Calonne — Attempt to ruin 
the reputation of Mme. Le Brun — Two deplorable 
marriages — Fate of Mme. Chalgrin — Under the shadow 
of death — Mme. Du Barry . . . . .60 

CHAPTER VI 

End of the ancicn regime — Foretaste of the Revolution — 
Threatened — Resolves to emigrate — Another alarm — 
Preparations — "You are wrong to go" — A terrible 
journey — Safe across the frontier . . . .79 

CHAPTER VII 

Turin — Parma — The Infanta — Florence — Rome : Delightful 
life there — Artistic success — Social life — The French 
refugees — The Polignac — Angelica Kaufmann — An Italian 
summer — Life at Gensano — The Duchesse de Fletiry . 90 

CHAPTER VIII 

Naples — Lady Hamilton — Marie Caroline, Queen of Naples — 
Mesdames de France — Their escape — Lcs chemises cic 
Marat — Rome — Terrible news from France — Venice — 
Turin — The Comtesse de Provence — The loth August — 
The Refugees — Milan — Vienna — Delightful society — 
Prince von Kaunitz-Life at Vienna . . . 104 

CHAPTER IX 

Dresden — St. Petersburg — The Empress Catherine II. — Orloff 
— Potemkin — Russian hospitality — Magnificence of society 
at St. Petersburg— Mme. Le Brun is robbed — Slanders 
against her — The Russian Imperial family — Popularity 
and success of Mme. Le Brun — Death of the Empress 
Catherine ....... 122 



CONTENTS xvii 

CHAPTER X 

PAGE 

Paul I. — Terror he inspired — Death of the mother of Mine. 
Le Brun — Marriage of her daughter — Moscow — The 
Tsarevitch Alexander — Assassination of Paul I. — "I 
salute my Emperor " — Mme. Le Brun returns to Paris — 
Changes — London — Life in England — Paris — Separated 
from M. Le Brun — Society during the Empire — Caroline 
Murat — Switzerland — Fall of the Empire — Restoration — 
Death of M. Le Brun — Of her daughter — Travels in 
France — Her nieces — Conclusion .... 139 



II 

LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 

CHAPTER I 

The House of Noailles— The court of Louis XV.— The 
Dauphin — The Dauphine — An evil omen — The Queen — 
The Convent of Fontevrault — Death of Mme. Therese — 
The Infanta — Madame Henriette and the Due d'Orleans 
— Mesdames Victoire, Sophie, and Louise . . . 161 

CHAPTER H 

The Greatest Names in France — The Marechale de Noailles 
— Strange proceedings — Death of the Dauphin — Of the 
Dauphine — Of the Queen — The Children of France — 
Louis XIV. and Louis XV. . . . . .173 

CHAPTER III 

The Duchesse d'Ayen — Birth and death of her sons — Her five 
daughters — Their education at home — Saintly life of the 
Duchess — Marriage of her eldest daughter to the Vicomte 
de Noailles — Of the second to the Marquis de la Fayette 
• — Of the Dauphin to the Archduchess Marie Antoinette — 
The Comtesse de Noailles — Marriages of the Comtes de 
Provence and d'Artois to the Princesses of Sardinia — 
Death of Louis XV. — Unhappy marriage of the third 
daughter of the Due d'Ayen to the Vicomte du Roure — 
Afterwards to Vicomte de Thesan — Paulette and Rosalie 
I * 



kvui CONTENTS 

.PAGE 

de Noailles — Adrienne de la Fayette — Radical ideas of 
the Vicomte de Noailles and Marquis de la Fayette — 
Displeasure of the family and the King — La Fayette and 
de Noailles join the American insurgents — Grief and 
heroism of Adrienne — Marriage of Pauline to the Marquis 
de Montagu . . . . . . .182 



CHAPTER IV 

The Marquis de Montagu rejoins his regiment — Life of Pauline 
at the hotel de Montagu — Affection of her father-in-law — 
Brilliant society — Story of M. de Continges — Death of 
Pauline's child — Marriage of Rosalie to Marquis de Gram- 
mont — Birth of Pauline's daughters — The court of Louis 
XVL — The royal family — Dissensions at court — Madame 
Sophie and the storm — Extravagance of the Queen and 
Comte d'Artois — The Comte d'Artois and Mile. Duthe — 
Scene with the King — Le petit Trianon — The Palace of 
Marly — A sinister guest ..... 194 

CHAPTER V 

Weak character of Louis XVL — Quarrels at court — Mme. de 
Tesse — Forebodings of Mme. d'Ayen — La Fayette — 
Saintly lives of Pauline and her sisters — Approach of the 
Revolution — The States-General — Folly of Louis XVL — 
Scenes at Versailles — Family political quarrels — Royalist 
and Radical — Death of Pauline's youngest child . . 206 



CHAPTER VI 

The Chateau de Plauzet — Varennes — Increasing danger — 
Decided to emigrate — Triumphal progress of La Fayette 
— The farewell of the Duchesse d'Ayen — Paris — Rosalie 
— A last mass — Escape to England .... 219 

CHAPTER VII 

M.de Montagu returns to Paris — M.de Beaune — Richmond — 
Death of Noemi — Aix-la-Chapelle — Escape of the Due 
d'Ayen and Vicomte de Noailles — La Fayette arrested in 
Austria — The Hague — Crossing the Meuse — Margate— 



CONTENTS xix 



Richmond — Hardships of poverty — Brussels — Letter from 
Mme. de Tesse — Joins her in Switzerland — Murder of M. 
and Mme. de Mouchy — Goes to meet the Due d'Ayen — 
He tells her of the murder of her grandmother, Mme. de 
Noailles, her mother, the Duchesse d'Ayen, and her eldest 
sister, the Vicomtesse de Noailles — Mme. de la Fayette 
still in prison ....... 227 

CHAPTER VHI 

Illness — Leaves Switzerland with Mme. de Tesse — They settle 
near Altona -Hears of Rosalie's safety — Life on the farm 
— Release of Adrienne — Her visit — Farm of Wittnold — 
Peaceful life there — Rosalie and Adrienne — Birth of 
Pauline's son — He and her other children live — Release 
of La Fayette — Their visit to Wittnold— Meeting of 
Adrienne, Pauline, and Rosalie at the Hague . . 248 

CHAPTER IX 

Return to France — The inheritance of the Duchesse d'Ayen 
— Loss of the Noailles property — Inherits the Castle of 
Fontenay — Death of Mme. de la Fayette — Prosperous 
life at Fontenay — Conclusion .... 258 



III 

MADAME TALLIEN 

CHAPTER I 

Terezia Cabarrus — Comes to Paris — Married to the Marquis 
de Fontenay — Revolutionary sympathies — Unpopularity 
of royal family — The wig of M. de Montyon — The 
Comte d'Artois and his tutor — The Comte de Provence 
and Louis XV. . . . . . .269 

CHAPTER II 

The makers of the Revolution — Fete a la Nature — Tallien — 
Dangerous times — An inharmonious marriage — Colonel 
la Mothe — A Terrorist — The beginning of the emigration 
— A sinister prophecy . . . . .281 



XX CONTENTS 

CHAPTER III 



PAGE 



The loth of August — The September massacres — Talhen — 
The emigrant ship — Arrest at Bordeaux — In prison — 
Saved by Tallien. . . . . . .297 

CHAPTER IV 

Divorced — M. de Fontenay escapes to Spain — The mistress 
of Talhen — Her influence and his save many Uves — 
Robespierre — Singular circumstances at the birth of 

Louis XVII. — The vengeance of the Marquis de 

— Enmity of Robespierre — Arrest of Terezia — La Force . 308 

CHAPTER V 

The Bastille — Prisons of the Revolution — Les Carmes — 
Cazotte — The Terrorists turn upon each other — 
Josephine de Beauharnais — A musician in the Concier- 
gerie — A dog in prison — Under the guardianship of a 
dog — Tallien tries to saves Terezia — A dagger — La Force 
— The last hope — The Tocsin — The 9th Thermidor . 323 

CHAPTER VI 

" Robespierre is dead ! " — Notre Dame de Thermidor — End of 
the Terror — The prisons open — Decline of Tallien's power 
— Barras — Napoleon — "Notre Dame de Septembre!" — 
M. Ouvrard — Separates from Tallien — He goes to Egypt 
— Consul in Spain — Dies in Paris — Terezia stays in Paris 
— Ingratitude of some she had saved — Marries the Prince 
de Chimay — Conclusion ... 335 



IV 

MADAME DE GENLIS 

CHAPTER I 

Birth of Felicite Ducrest — Chateau de Saint-Aubin — Made 
chanoinessc — Story of her uncle and her mother — Her 
childhood — Comes to Paris — Goes into society — Evil 
reputation of the hotel Tencin .... 351 



CONTENTS xxi 

CHAPTER II 

PAGE 

M. de la Haie — Death of the Dauphin — M. de Saint-Aubin 
goes to St. Domingo — Taken prisoner by the EngHsh — 
Returns to France — Imprisoned for debt — His death — 
Difficulties and poverty — Felicite marries the Comte de 
Genlis — His family — The Abbesse de Montivilliers and 
the robbers — Life in the convent — Birth of a daughter . 362 

CHAPTER III 

Presentation at Versailles — La Rosiere — Father and son — 
Mme. de Montesson — A terrible scene— The Comtesse 
de Custine — Mme. de Genlis enters the Palais Royal . 375 

CHAPTER IV 

Society of the Palais Royal — Philippe-Egalite — An appari- 
tion — Mile. Mars — M. Ducrest — Marriage of Mme. de 
Montesson — Marly — The Prime Minister of France . 386 

CHAPTER V 

La Muette — Sunrise — Italy — Nocturnal adventure — Governess 
to the children of Orleans — Scandalous reports — Mar- 
riages of her daughters — Death of the elder one — The 
Comte de Valence ...... 397 

CHAPTER VI 

Death of the Due d'Orleans — M. de Genlis — Sillery — Coming 
of the Revolution — The Bastille — Anger of the Duchesse 
d'Orleans — Dissensions ..... 411 

CHAPTER VII 

In England — Sheridan — Strange adventure— Raincy — Fare- 
well to Philippe-Egalite — Proscribed — Tournay — Pamela 
— Death of the King ...... 426 

CHAPTER VIII 

Flight and danger — Mons — Zurich — Zug — The Convent of 
Bremgarten— Death of M. de Sillery — Of %alite— 
Mademoiselle d'Orleans and the Princesse de Conti . 438 



xxii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IX 

PAGE 

A wandering life — "The tyrant is no more" — Marriage of 
Henriette — Hamburg — Berlin — Antwerp — Brussels — 
Returns to France — Terrible changes — Shattered fortune 
— Literary success — The Empire — Napoleon — Mme. 
de Genlis and her friends — Death of Mme. de Montesson 449 

CHAPTER X 

Interesting society — Anecdotes of the past Terror — Casimir — 
The Restoration — Madame Royale — Louis XVIII. — The 
coiffeur of Marie Antoinette — The regicide— Return of 
the Orleans family — An astrologer — A faithful servant 
— Society of the Restoration — Isabey — Meyerbeer — 
Conclusion ....... 466 



Facing 


P- 


8 


11 




45 


11 




49 


11 




65 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Madame Le Brun. {Painted by herself. Uffisi, Florence) 

Frontispiece 

Louis XV. {Rigaud) 

Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. 
{Mine. Vigee Le Brun) 

Antwerp. {E. H. Bearne) 

Calonne. {Mine. Vigee Le Brun) 

Madame Le Brun et sa Fille. {Painted by 

herself) . . . . . . „ 76 

The Ponte Vecchio, Florence. 

{E. H. Bearne) ,, 92 

Rome. {E. H. Bearne) . . . • . » lo? 

Venice. {E. IL. Bearne) . . . . „ 112 

Catherine IL, Empress of Russia. 

{Schebanoff) „ 125 

Paul, Emperor of Russia. {From picture 
given to Sir Home Popham^ Capt. R,N., by 
the Empress Marie) . . , . „ 139 



5? 


170 


•/) 


179 


• U 


203 


i1 


205 


-■> 


238 


11 


245 



xxiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

COMTESSE d'Andlau. {Mine. Vigce Le Briin) Facing p. 152 
Madame Adelaide, {Nattier) . 

COMTE D'ArTOIS, afterwards CHARLES X. 

Madame Sophie. {Nattier) 

Le petit Trianon. {E. H. Bearne) 

Marie Antoinette, {Paul Delaroche) . 

Palais du Luxembourg. {E. H, Bearne) 

Marie de Vichy-Chambron, Marquise du 

Deffand . . , . . „ 281 

Francois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire. 

( Tournicres) 

Maximilien Robespierre. {Guiard) . 

Georges Danton. {Greiize) 

Napoleon . , . . . 

La Marquise de Pompadour. {Boucher) 

x'\msterdam, {E. H. Bearne) 

Nice. {E. H. Bearne) 

Chillon. {E. H. Bearne) . 

Madame Royale. {Mme. Vigce Le Brim) 

Judith Pasta. {Gerard). 

Malibran ..... 



) » 


284 




321 




330 




340 




352 




399 




399 




448 




470 




480 




484 



I 
MADAME VIG^E LE BRUN 



CHAPTER I 

The ancien rdgime — Close of the reign of Louis XIV. — The 
Regent Orleans — The court of Louis XV. — The philosophers 
— The artists — M. Vigee. 

WHEN Elisabeth Louise Vig^e was born at 
Paris, April, 1755, the French court and 
monarchy were still at the height of their splendour 
and power. 

Only a few years since, the chronicler Barbier had 
remarked, " It is very apparent that we make all 
Europe move to carry out our plans, and that we 
lay down the law everywhere." ^ 

Louis XV. was upon the throne ; the manners and 
customs of the ancien regime were in full force, 
though mitigated and softened by the growing 
enlightenment and liberalism which were spreading 
not only in the literary and professional circles, but 
amongst the younger generation in all classes. 

Middle-aged men and women had seen Louis XIV., 
Louis le Grand, "le Roi Soleil," as an old man ; old 
people could remember him in the prime of his life, 
the most magnificent King with the most stately 
court in Christendom. The Cardinal de Luynes, the 

^ Journal de Barbier, " Chronique de la Regence," 1741. 
3 



4 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Mar^chal de Croz, the Due de Richelieu and other 
grands seigneurs who preserved the manners and 
traditions of that time, were looked upon as models 
of courtly manners and high-breeding by those who 
complained that in the reaction and licence of the 
regency and court of Louis XV., vice and corrup- 
tion were far more unrestrained, more scandalous, 
less disguised and altogether more indecorous than 
under the ceremonious and stately rule of his great- 
grandfather.i 

The Queen, Marie Leczinska, daughter of Stanis- 
laus, ex-King of Poland, was a harmless, uninterest- 
ing woman, who had no ambition, no talent, no 
influence, and a great many children. 

The King had been married to her when he was 
fifteen and she two-and-twenty ; and after the 
first few years had lived in an open immorality 
which was very general at his court, and for a long 
time did not much affect his popularity with the 
nation, though every now and then caricatures and 
epigrams more witty than prudent appeared ; as, 
for instance, the following, written upon the base 
of the pedestal of an equestrian statue of him, 
around which were grouped the figures of Strength, 
Prudence, Justice, and Peace : 

" Grotesque monument, infame piedestal. 
Les vertus sont a pied, le vice est a cheval." 

And a few days afterwards upon the same monu- 
ment : 

' Louis XV. was five years old when he succeeded ihis great- 
grandfather, Louis XIV. (1715). 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 5 

" II est id comme a Versailles 
II est sans cceur et sans entrailles." ' 

Louis, however, was more selfish and indifferent 
than cruel. He was by no means like Frederic 
William of Prussia, a savage to his family and his 
subjects, or like three out of the four Georges of 
England, who were not only outrageously immoral 
themselves, but brutal tyrants to their wives 2 and 
bitter enemies of their parents and children. 

His court was the most splendid, the most 
extravagant, and the most licentious in Europe ; 
the cruelty and oppression of many of the great 
nobles and especially the princes of the blood, were 
notorious ; the laws were harsh and unjust to a 
frightful extent, but they were not of his making. 
He neglected the Queen, but did not ill-treat her ; 
he was fond of his children and indulgent to them ; 
while, far from being disliked by his subjects, he 
was called Louis le Bien-aime. 

Barbier, writing in December, 1758, gives another 
sarcastic verse going about in society, which, as it 
was directed against the King's all-powerful mistress, 
the Marquise de Pompadour, attracted general 
attention, irritated the King, and caused the author, 
who was discovered to be an officer of the guards, 
to be sentenced to a year's imprisonment, after 
which to be banished to Malta, as he belonged to 
the order of St. John of Jerusalem. 

The lines are as follows, and refer to a chateau 
then being built by Louis for the Marquise de 

^ " Chronique de la Regence " (Barbier, 1748). 
' George II., although in other respects much resembling the 
first and fourth Georges, did not ill-treat his wife. 



6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Pompadour, whose original name was Jeanne 
Antoinette Poisson : 

" Fille d'une sangsue, et sangsue elle-meme 
Poisson d'une arrogance extreme, 
Etale en ce chateau sans crainte et sans effroi 
La substance du peuple et la honte du Roi." 

Barbier, a lawyer and man of the world, whose 
journal of eight volumes gives a vivid impression of 
the life of that time, after remarking that the sentence 
was a very lenient one,^ that the chateau was not so 
large as that of many 3. fermier general, and that the 
building thereof gave employment to many poor 
people, goes on to say, " As for ' shame,' ... if it 
is because the King has a mistress, why who has 
not ? except M. le due d'Orleans.^ . . . The Comte 
de Clermont, Abb6 de Saint-Germain-des-Pres, 
openly keeps Mile, le Due, who was an opera 
dancer ; she spends three-quarters of the year at 
Berny, the Abbe's country house, where she does 
the honours. She has a fine house in the rue de 
Richelieu, where the Prince often spends a week. 
The fathers of the abbey who have business with 
him go to him there in the morning, for he does 
not lodge in the palace of the abbey. This goes on 
in sight of every one, and nobody says a word 
about it. 

" For more than twenty years M. le Comte de 
Charolois has detained in captivity, against her will, 
Mme. de Conchamp, wife of a Maitre-des-Requetes, 
whom he carried off, and who would have been 

' It was afterwards changed into twenty years' imprisonment, 
and then banishment (d'Argenson). 
= Son of the late Regent. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN ; 

much happier in her own house. Fifteen out of 
twenty men at the court do not Hve with their 
wives but have mistresses, and even amongst private 
people at Paris, nothing is more frequent ; therefore 
it is ridiculous to expect the King, who is absolutely 
the master, to be in a worse position than his sub- 
jects and all the kings his predecessors." 

There had, in fact, been a strong reaction against 
the restraint and dulness of the last few years of the 
reign of Louis XIV., when the magnificent, pleasure- 
loving King, whose victorious armies had devastated 
Europe, who had made princes of his illegitimate 
children, lavished the riches of the country upon 
his mistresses, and yet in his stately beauty and 
fascination been the idol of France ; had changed 
into a melancholy old man, depressed and dis- 
illusioned, looking with uneasiness upon the past, 
with fear upon the future ; while the brilliant 
beauties and splendid festivities of bygone days had 
given place to virtue, strict propriety, and Mme. de 
Maintenon. 

When Louis XIV. died, people were very tired of 
this altered state of things. For some time they had 
been extremely dull and were eager for change and 
amusement. 

With a King of five years old, and such a Regent 
as the Duke of Orleans, they were tolerably sure of 
both. The reign of pleasure, luxury, and licence 
began with enthusiasm. Never, during the life of 
Louis le Grand, had the atmosphere of the Court 
been what it became under the regency, and under 
his great-grandson. 

The Regent Orleans was not, like the Princes of 



8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Conde, Conti, Charolois, and others of the blood 
royal, cruel, haughty, or vindictive ; on the contrary, 
he was good-natured, easy, and indulgent ; but he 
was dissipated, extravagant, and licentious to such a 
degree that he himself, the court, and his family 
were the scandal of Europe. The same frenzied 
pursuit of enjoyment, the same lavish, sensual, reck- 
less, luxurious life, characterised the whole of the 
reign of Louis XV. 

In reading the memoirs and chronicles of that 
time one scarcely realises the existence of the many 
famiHes and households, especially among the 
noblesse de province ^ or country gentlemen, and the 
middle classes, amongst whom the principles of 
order and religion were observed ; and of an in- 
creasing circle of literary and philosophic persons 
who inveighed against the crimes, vices, and abuses 
of the age. 

Those whose ideas of France in the eighteenth 
century are derived only from such books as 
Dickens' " Tale of Two Cities," or even from a 
casual acquaintance with a few of the histories and 
chronicles of the time, are apt vaguely to picture to 
themselves a nation composed partly of oppressed, 
starving peasants, and partly of their oppressors, a 
race of well-bred ruffians and frivolous, heartless 
women ; all splendidly dressed, graceful, polite, and 
charming in their manners amongst themselves ; but 
arrogant, cruel, and pitiless to those beneath them. 

Many such undoubtedly there were ; the laws 

' It is, however, true that such of the noblesse de province as were 
indined to be tyrannical were worse than the great nobles who 
belonged to the court ; and their oppression was more felt. 




Riq-aud 



LOUIS XV. 



To /ace page i 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 9 

were terribly oppressive, the privileges of the 
favoured classes outrageously unjust ; while as for 
public opinion, Barbier himself remarks that the 
public is a fool, and must always be unworthy of 
the consideration of any man. 

But still, in all ages human nature is the same, 
and has to be reckoned with under all circum- 
stances, and that people in general are much better 
than the laws which govern them is evident. 

If the cruel, unjust marriage laws of England, 
which until a few years ago were in force, had been 
universally and fully carried out, making the hus- 
band an almost irresponsible tyrant and the wife 
a helpless, hopeless slave, domestic life would 
have been hell upon earth. But as the great 
majority of men had no wish to ill-treat their 
wives, confiscate their money, deprive them of their 
children or commit any of the atrocities sanctioned 
by the laws of their country, families upon the 
whole went on in harmony and affection. It was 
only now and then, when a man did wish to avail 
himself of the arbitrary power placed in his hands, 
that the results of such iniquitous laws were brought 
before the public. At the same time, however, the 
knowledge of their existence and the tone of 
thought, prejudices, and customs which conse- 
quently prevailed, had an influence upon men who 
were not the least tyrannically inclined, but merely 
acted in accordance with the ideas and opinions of 
every one around them. 

And amidst all the oppression, vice, and evil of 
which we hear so often in France of the eighteenth 
century, there was also much good of which 



lo HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

we hear little or nothing. The reason is obvious. 
Good people are, unfortunately, seldom so amusing to 
write or read about as bad ones. Has any one ever met 
with a child who wanted to be told a story about a 
good little girl or boy ? And is it not true, though 
lamentable, that there are many persons who would 
rather read a book about a bushranger than a 
bishop ? 

The noblesse d'epee was the highest, most bril- 
liant, and most scandalous in France ; but in its 
ranks were to be found heroic examples and 
saintly characters ; while far away in the convents 
and chateaux scattered over the country and in 
quiet bourgeois families in the towns lives were led 
of earnest faith, devotion, and self-denial. 

Many an abbess, many a chatelaine spent time 
and money amongst the rich and poor ; and there 
were seigneurs who helped and protected the 
peasants on their estates and were regarded by 
them with loyalty and affection. To some extent 
under the influence of the ideas and prejudices 
amongst which they had been born and educated, 
yet they lived upright, honourable, religious lives, 
surrounded by a mass of oppression, licence, and 
corruption in the destruction of which they also 
were overwhelmed. 

Amongst the philosophic set, the " encyclo- 
paedists," so-called from the encyclopaedia which 
had been started by Diderot, and to which Grimm, 
d'Alembert, Buffon, Marmontel, and many other 
well-known men were contributors, there was a 
spirit of passionate revolt against the cruelties and 
abuses of the time, an ardent thirst for liberty, 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM ii 

much generous sympathy with the poor and op- 
pressed, and desire to alleviate the sufferings of 
humanity. 

They were, as usual, men of all sorts, shades, 
and aims. Many, inspired with lofty but unprac- 
tical enthusiasm, dreamed of an impossible repub- 
Hc founded upon that of Plato ; the ideal of others 
was a constitutional monarchy and free parliament 
such as existed in England ; there were also, of 
course, numbers who desired to upset the present 
order of things so that they might usurp the power 
and seize the property of everybody for them- 
selves. 

But besides their hostility to religion, the private 
characters of these philosophers did not, in many 
cases, by any means correspond with their writings 
and professions. 

Rousseau, notwithstanding his assumption of 
superior virtue, his pretence of being a leader and 
teacher thereof, his especial exhortations and in- 
structions to parents about the care and education 
of their children, and his theories on friendship 
and love, was absolutely without gratitude for the 
help and kindness of his friends, ill-tempered, con- 
ceited, and quarrelsome ; saw no degradation in his 
liaison with a low, uneducated woman, and aban- 
doned all his children in their infancy at the gate of 
the enfants troiwes. 

Freethinkers, deists, or open atheists most of 
them were, delighting in blasphemous assaults 
and attacks, not only upon the Church and religion 
in general, but upon God himself ; and so out- 
rageous and scurrilous was their habitual language 



12 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

upon such subjects that they found it necessary to 
disguise, by a sort of private slang known only to 
each other, their conversation in public places 
where it might be not only offensive to their hearers, 
but dangerous to themselves. 

The salon of the famous Mme. Geoffrin was 
the great resort of philosophers, literary men of 
different kinds, painters, musicians, and celebrities 
of various countries, people distinguished in the 
political world, or belonging to the court and the 
great noblesse, French and foreign. 

In art, as in everything else, it was still the age of 
the artificial. The great wigs and flowing drapery 
of the last reign had given place to powder and 
paint, ribbons and pompons, pink roses, and pale 
blue satin or velvet, a la Pompadour. 

When people in Parisian society thought of the 
country, they thought of lambs with ribbons round 
their necks, shepherdesses in fanciful costumes with 
long crooks, or a "rosiere" kneeling before the 
family and friends of the seigneur to be crowned 
with flowers and presented with a rose as the reward 
of virtue, in the presence of an admiring crowd of 
villagers ; of conventional gardens, clipped trees, 
and artificial ruins ; but wild, picturesque moun- 
tain scenery was their abhorrence. 

The taste of the day was expressed in the pictures 
of the favourite artists, Watteau and Greuze, who 
painted the graceful groups and landscapes every 
one admired : charming women sitting in beautiful 
gardens dressed in costumes suitable for a ball or 
court festivity, or anything on earth but being out 
of doors in the country. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 13 

Fragonard, the Proven9al, had more depth and 
dramatic feeling, the passion of the south and 
the love of nature in his work gave a stronger, 
truer, more impressive tone to his pictures ; but 
Boucher, the favourite painter of Louis XV., the 
Marquise de Pompadour, and the court would 
seem from his pictures to have looked upon every- 
thing in life as if it were a scene in a carnival or 
fete. His goddesses and saints, even the holy 
Virgin herself, were painted from models from the 
theatre, and looked as if they were ; his gardens, 
roses, silks, satins, nymphs, fountains, and garlands 
were the supreme fashion ; every one wanted him 
to paint their portrait ; he had more commissions 
than he could execute, and his head was turned 
by the flattery lavished upon him. 

David, Chardin, the celebrated genre painter. Van 
Loo, Gerard, La Tour, Joseph Vernet, and many 
others were flourishing. Louis Vig^e was also an 
artist. He painted portraits in pastel, of which his 
daughter says that they were extremely good, many 
of them worthy of the famous La Tour; also charm- 
ing scenes after the style of Watteau, in oil. 

Although not a great painter he was absolutely 
devoted to his art, in which he would become so 
absorbed as to forget everything else. On one 
occasion he was going out to dinner and had 
already left the house, when he remembered some- 
thing he wanted to do to a picture upon which he 
was working. He therefore went back, took off the 
wig he was wearing, put on a night-cap, and began 
to retouch the picture. Presently he got up, went 
out again, forgetting all about the night-cap which 



14 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

he still had on, and which formed a singular con- 
trast to his coat trimmed with gold braid, and the 
sword at his side ; and would certainly have 
presented himself at the party to which he was 
going in this costume had he not fortunately met 
a neighbour, who stopped him and pointed out the 
strangeness of his appearance. 



CHAPTER II 

The childhood of Lisette — Extraordinary talent — The convent — 
The household of an artist — Death of M. Vigee — Despair of 
Lisette — Begins her career — Re-marriage of her mother — The 
Dauphine. 

THE early years of the childhood of Elisabeth 
Vig^e were peaceful and happy enough, and 
already at a tender age the genius which was to 
determine and characterise her future life began to 
appear. According to the usual custom she was 
placed in a convent to be educated, and though 
only six years old when she was sent there, she had 
then and during the five years of her convent life, 
the habit of drawing and scribbling perpetually and 
upon everything she could lay her hands on, much 
to the displeasure of the good Sisters and of her 
companions. 

For nothing was safe from her pencil : her books, 
her copy-books, even those of her schoolfellows, the 
walls of the dormitory, every available space was 
covered with heads, figures, and landscapes in 
crayon or charcoal, and when out in the playground 
she drew with a stick upon the sand. 

Little did the other children who made com- 
plaints that their books were "spoiled," or the nuns 

15 



i6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

who gave reproofs and decreed punishments, 
imagine what valuable possessions these scribbled, 
spoilt books and papers would have become in 
future years if they had taken care of them, for the 
artistic genius was in them even then. One evening, 
when she was seven or eight years old, the child 
drew the head of a man with a beard which she 
showed to her father. Transported with delight, he 
exclaimed : 

" Tu seras peintre, mon enfant, on jamais il n'en 
sera." ^ 

She always kept this drawing, her foretaste of the 
brilliant success that began so early and never 
forsook her. 

Lise, or Lisette, as she was generally called, was 
a delicate child, and her parents, who were devotedly 
fond of her and very anxious about her, frequently 
came and took her home for a few days, greatly to 
her delight. With them and her brother Louis, 
their only child besides herself, she was perfectly 
happy. Louis was three years younger, and did 
not possess her genius for painting, but the brother 
and sister were always deeply attached to one 
another. 

Her mother was extremely beautiful, of rather an 
austere character, and very religious. With her the 
children attended High Mass and the other offices 
of the Church, especially during Lent ; and upon 
the sensitive, impressionable girl the solemn beauty 
of the music, and especially the deep notes of the 
organ, produced an almost overpowering effect. 
Often as she sat or knelt by her mother the rich, 
' " Thou wilt be a painter, my child, or never will there be one." 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 17 

melodious tones echoing through choir and nave in 
the dim, religious gloom would throw her into a 
kind of rapture, and end in a passion of tears which 
she could not always conceal. This intense feeling 
for music, especially religious music, lasted all her life. 

But her greatest love was for her father ; it was 
almost adoration. Louis Vigee was exactly opposite 
in disposition to his wife, to whom he was, however, 
devoted. Kindly, affectionate, lighthearted, and 
thoughtless, his love for her did not interfere with 
his admiration for other women ; a pretty grisette 
was quite able to turn his head, and on New Year's 
day he would amuse himself by walking about 
Paris, saluting the prettiest young girls he met, on 
pretence of wishing them a happy new year. 

Among his friends he was universally popular ; 
every evening at his house were to be found some 
of the artists, poets, and other literary men who 
formed the society in which he delighted, and came 
to the suppers the gaiety and pleasantness of which 
were quite appreciated by the child who was always 
allowed to be of the party, but not to sit up after the 
dessert was upon the table. She would lie awake 
in her room, listening to the laughter and songs 
which she enjoyed without understanding, long 
after she was in bed. 

The days were as happy as the evenings, for they 
were spent in her father's studio, where he allowed 
her to paint heads in pastel and to draw all day long 
with his crayons. 

At eleven years old Lisette was taken from the 
convent to live at home, after having made her first 
Communion. She had so outgrown her strength 

3 



i8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

that she stooped from weakness, and her features 
gave at present little promise of the well-known 
beauty of her after-life. Her brother, on the con- 
trary, was remarkably handsome, full of life and 
spirits, distinguished at his college by his talents 
and intelligence, and the favourite of his mother, 
while the father's preference was for the daughter 
whose genius was his pride and delight, and to 
whom his indulgence and tenderness made up for 
the strictness or inequality she observed in the 
dealings of her mother with her brother and her- 
self. Speaking in her '* Souvenirs " ^ of her deep 
affection for her father, she declares that not a word 
he ever said before her had she forgotten. 

Amongst the friends who frequented their house 
her surprising talent naturally excited much atten- 
tion and interest. One of those she liked best was 
the historical painter, Doyen,^ a man full of culture, 
information, and good sense, whose remarks upon 
persons and things, as well as upon painting, she 
found very useful. 

Poinsinet, the author, was a man of very different 
calibre. That he had plenty of ability was proved 
by the fact that on the same evening he obtained 
three dramatic successes, i.e., Ernelinde at the Opera, 
Le Cercle at the Fran9ais, and Tom Jones at the 
Opera-Comique. But his absurd credulity made 
him the object of continual practical jokes, or 
mystifications as they were called. 

' " Souvenirs de Mme. Vigee Le Brun," t. i, p. 8. 

= Gabriel Francois Doyen, b. 1726, d. 1806. Painted " La Mort 
de Virginie," "Sainte-Genevieve des Ardente," "La Mort de Saint- 
Louis," &c. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 19 

On one occasion his friends made him believe 
that there existed the post of " fire-screen to the 
King," and that it might possibly be given to him. 
In order to qualify himself, they persuaded him to 
stand frequently before the fire until his legs were 
quite scorched, assuring him when he wished to 
move away that if he did not persevere he would 
never be able to fill that post. 

Yet his delineation of the society of the day was 
so true that somebody remarked about his play, 
Le Cercle, that Poinsinet must have been listening at 
the doors. He was drowned in Spain while crossing 
the Guadalquivir. 

Caresne was a painter and poet whose poems and 
pictures were bad, but his conversation amusing. 
He wrote the following verses to Lisette, whose 
rapid progress and intelligence made her seem to 
be already passing out of childhood into girlhood : 

Plus n'est le temps, ou de mes seuls couplets 

Ma Lisa aimait a se voir celebree. 

Plus n'est le temps ou de mes seuls bouquets 

Je la voyais toujours paree. 

Les vers que I'amour me dictait 

Ne repetaient que le nom de Lisette, 

Et Lisette les econtait. 

Plus d'un baiser payait ma chansonette, 

Au meme prix qui n'eut ete poete ? 

He gave Lisette lessons in oil-painting for which his 
wife used to come and fetch her. They were so 
poor that on one occasion when she wished to 
finish a head she was painting, and accepted their 
invitation to stay and dine, she found the dinner 
consisted only of soup and potatoes. 
Time passed only too quickly in the happy 



20 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

sheltered life of the gifted child in her father's 
house. The days were full of delight as she sat 
absorbed in the work which was a passion to her in 
the studio of the father she idolised. The evenings 
were full of pleasure, interest, and variety, as she 
listened to the brilliant conversation, artistic, intel- 
lectual, and political, of her father and the friends 
of many different ideas and opinions with whom 
he associated. 

Louis Vig^e was neither in principles nor tastes 
at all in sympathy with the new philosophic party ; 
on the contrary, he looked with disapproval and 
uneasiness upon the future, from which they were 
so eagerly expecting their millenium. 

Returning home one day after dinner with Diderot, 
d'Alembert, Helvetius, and others of their set, he 
seemed to be so out of spirits that his wife asked if 
anything were the matter. 

" Ma chere amie," he replied, " all that I have been 
hearing makes me think that the world will very 
soon be upside down." 

He was not, however, to live to see the realisation 
of his fears. Not much more than a year after 
Lisette's return from her convent, a terrible calamity 
befel her in the loss of the father whose love and 
protection had made the sunshine of her life, and by 
whose death her lot was entirely changed and her 
happiness ruined. 

The illness of Louis Vigee was caused by a fish- 
bone which he had swallowed, and which had 
become fixed in the stomach. Although the mania 
for operations amongst English doctors of the 
twentieth century, which in this country adds a 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 21 

new terror to illness, did not exist at that time 
in France ; under the circumstances, nevertheless, 
more than one operation was considered neces- 
sary ; in spite of, or perhaps because of which, 
although the most skilful surgeon was employed, 
and was a personal friend who bestowed devoted 
and incessant care and attention upon the invalid, 
it soon became apparent that he had not long to 
live. Heartbroken, Lisette stood by her father's 
bedside with her mother and brother to receive his 
last blessing and farewell, and an hour afterwards 
he breathed his last. 

With her father's death vanished for ever the 
bright, unclouded happiness of her childhood ; her 
life henceforth was chequered with brilliant success, 
artistic and social, and acute sorrows in her 
domestic life ; like a picture in which the bright- 
ness of the lights seem to deepen the gloom of 
the shadows. They were very badly off, for Louis 
Vig^e had left scarcely any provision for his 
family, and Lisette for some time was so stunned 
with the shock and grief that she seemed to be sunk 
in despair, taking no interest in anything, and giving 
up even the painting which had been her passion. 
Doyen, amongst other friends of Vig^e, used to 
come to see them ; his visits were the greatest 
consolation to them all, especially to the young girl, 
who appreciated the affection he had always shown 
for her father, and by him she was persuaded to 
resume the studies and work which alone had 
power to divert her mind in some degree from her 
sorrow. She began to paint from nature, and did 
several portraits both in oil and in pastel, working 



22 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

chiefly with another young girl about a year older 
than herself, Mile. Boquet, whose father kept a 
curiosity shop in the rue Saint Denis where he lived, 
and where Lisette used to go in the evenings to 
draw from casts by candlelight with her friend. 

Very often in the mornings the two girls went 
together to the artist Briard, who had a studio in 
the Louvre, and who, though an indifferent painter, 
drew well, and had several other young girls as 
pupils. 

Lisette and her friend used to stay there all day, 
taking their dinner in a basket, and had an especial 
weakness for certain slices of excellent boeuf a la 
mode which they bought of the concierge of one of 
the doors of the Louvre. Lisette always declared 
in after life that she could never get any so good. 

Lisette was now rapidly becoming very pretty, to 
the great satisfaction of her mother, who, seeing 
that in spite of her busy life and deep interest in her 
work, her spirits still suffered from the loss of her 
father, tried to give her all the distraction possible. 
She would take her to walk in the Tuileries gardens, 
where the beauty of both mother and daughter 
attracted much attention ; and what pleased her 
most, to see all the picture galleries possible. They 
often went to the Luxembourg, in the galleries of 
which were then the Rubens and many others of 
the old masters now in the Louvre ; besides which 
they saw all the good private collections. By far 
the best at that time was the gallery of the Palais 
Royal, collected by the Regent, Due d'Orl6ans. 
These pictures were sold in the Revolution. Many 
of them were bought by Lord Stafford. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 23 

Besides her delight in wandering through these 
galleries where she would stand before her favourite 
pictures, never tired of studying them, absorbed in 
their beauty, she copied heads from Rubens, Rem- 
brandt, Vandyke, Greuze, and others, and although 
she was only fourteen years old, the portraits she 
painted were not only becoming known, but were 
the principal support of the family, besides paying 
for the school expenses, books, and clothes of her 
brother. 

But however hard she worked, the family finances 
did not become sufficiently flourishing to satisfy 
Mme. Vig^e, who, driven to desperation by their 
poverty, and of course anxious about the future, 
everything depending upon the work of a delicate girl 
of fourteen ; resolved to marry again, and unfor- 
tunately selected a rich jeweller of her acquaintance, 
to whose house in the rue St. Honore she removed 
with her children after the marriage. 

She had far better have remained in her old home, 
poor and free ; for directly they were married she 
discovered the real character of her second husband : 
an ill-tempered, avaricious man, who refused his 
wife and step-children even the necessaries of life, 
although Lisette was foolish enough to give him all 
she earned by her portraits. She hated him still 
more because he had taken possession of her father's 
clothes, which he wore, to her grief and indignation. 
Joseph Vernet, who, like many of her old friends, 
still interested himself in her, was furious at all this, 
and represented to her that she ought to pay a 
certain pension to her odious step-father and keep 
the rest of the money herself ; but she feared such a 



24 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

suggestion might make matters worse for her 
mother, and therefore went on allowing herself to 
be robbed. 

She really cared very little for the money she so 
easily made, all her love was for her art, which alone 
had the power to raise her above the petty miseries 
and troubles of her present life. 

Her step-father was continually doing something 
or other to annoy and distress them. Their new 
home was immediately opposite the gardens of the 
Palais Royal, which in those days were not only 
very extensive but extremely beautiful, with great 
forest-trees whose deep shade the sun could not 
penetrate. 

The great avenue was a fashionable promenade on 
Sundays and fetes, and to Lisette and her friend 
Mile. Boquet, both of whom grew prettier every 
year, it was a great amusement to walk there with 
the mother and step-father of the former. The 
Grand-0p6ra being close by, when the performance 
was over, which then was at half-past eight, it was 
the fashion, on summer nights, for every one to come 
out and walk about these gardens, where sometimes 
until two o'clock in the morning it was a scene of 
enchantment. People belonging to the court and 
society, bourgeois, actors, musicians, the demi-monde 
all went there. Every well-dressed woman in the 
evening carried a large bouquet of flowers, the scent 
of which filled the air, groups of people scattered 
about sang or played the harp, violin, or guitar, 
especially on moonlight nights ; amateurs and 
artistes too, the delicious music of Saint Georges, Also- 
redo and Garat often attracted crowds of listeners. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 25 

The demi-monde at that time kept themselves 
apart from the rest of the company ; Frenchmen of 
good position and manners did not appear with 
them in pubHc. If they were with them at the theatre 
it was in a closed box ; though in her " Souvenirs " 
Mme. Le Brun declares that the fortunes made by 
them and the men ruined by their extravagance far 
surpassed anything of the kind after the Revolution. 

The beautiful and notorious Mile. Duth6 was 
often to be seen, amongst others, attended by 
an Englishman who was not so scrupulous about 
appearances, and whom Mme. Le Brun saw again 
with the same person eighteen years afterwards at a 
theatre in London. 

Besides the gardens of the Tuileries, Luxembourg, 
and Palais Royal, there were plenty of other places 
to which the Parisians resorted for amusement. 

There was the Colys6e, an immense place in the 
Champs-Elys^es, with a lake on which were held 
regattas and round which were walks with seats 
placed about ; also a large concert-room with 
excellent music, as the orchestra was a fine one and 
many of the best singers were to be heard there. 

A flight of steps led up to the portico which was 
the entrance to this concert hall, and was the 
favourite lounge of the idle, dissipated young men 
of fashion, who would stand there in groups, 
making insolent remarks upon the women who 
came in and out. One evening as Lisette was 
coming down the steps with her mother, the 
Duke of Orleans, afterwards the infamous Philippe- 
Egalit6, stood there with the Marquis de Genlis, 
both making outrageous remarks to annoy whoever 



26 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

passed them. To the relief of Lisette, however, the 
Duke, as he pointed her out to his friend, only 
remarked in a loud voice : 

"Ah ! there is nothing to be said against that one." 

A fashionable promenade was the boulevard dii 
Temple, where every day, especially Thursdays, 
hundreds of carriages were to be seen driving up 
and down or standing under the shade of trees now 
replaced by houses, shops, and cafes. Young men 
rode in and out amongst them, notorious members 
of the demi-monde tried to surpass every one in 
the splendour of their dress and carriages. A cer- 
tain Mile. Renard had her carriage drawn by 
four horses, their harness studded with imitation 
jewels. It was not an age of imitation. In those 
days as a rule lace was real lace, jewels were real 
jewels, and if tawdry imitations and finery were 
worn it was by women of this class. Respectable 
people would never have dreamed of bedizening 
themselves with the sort of cheap rubbish with 
which the modern women of the lower classes 
delight to disfigure their houses and their dress. 

On one side of the boulevard were rows of chairs 
on which sat many old ladies of fashion, highly 
rouged, according to the privilege of their class. 
For only women of a certain rank were allowed to 
wear it. There was also a garden with seats raised 
one above the other, from which people could see 
the fireworks in the evenings. 

The odious step-father, whose name by the by, 
was Jacques Frangois Le Sevre, was annoyed at the 
universal admiration excited by the beauty of his 
wife and step-daughter. At one time he tried to 



MADAME VIGtE LE BRUN 27 

put a stop to their walks, and told them he had 
hired a country place where they would go from 
Saturday till Monday during the summer. 

Lisette rejoiced at this announcement, for she 
fancied she would like to live in the country, at 
any rate for a part of the year. 

But when they saw the place, which was at 
Chaillot, it was a miserable little house in a still 
more miserable little garden, without a tree or any 
shelter from the sun except a deplorable looking 
arbour against which nothing would grow properly, 
while in the next plots of ground were shop boys 
shooting at birds according to the odious fashion 
one still sees in the south. 

Lisette was in despair when she saw it, but 
fortunately some friends of her mother's came one 
Sunday to dine there with them, and were so 
shocked that they used often to fetch her away and 
take her out with them on long excursions to all the 
parks, chateaux, and delightful places in the neigh- 
bourhood. 

The one she liked best was Marly-le-Roi, a 
royal palace entirely destroyed in the Revolution. 
It was then an abode of enchantment, and she 
always spoke with rapture of the chateau with its 
six pavilions, its trellised walks covered with jasmin 
and honeysuckle, its fountains, cascades, canal, and 
pools upon which floated tame swans, its lawns 
shaded by enormous trees, its terraces and statues, 
everything recalling Louis XIV. Here for the first 
time she saw Marie Antoinette, then Dauphine, 
walking in the gardens with several of her ladies, all 
dressed in white. 



28 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Lisette and her mother were turning back, but 
the Dauphine stopped them, and speaking in the 
kindest manner to them begged them to continue 
their walk wherever they Hked. 

In 1802 Mme. Le Brun revisited this en- 
chanting place, or rather the ground where it used 
to be. It was entirely swept away ; only a stone 
marked the spot where had been the centre of the 
salon. 

When the summer came to an end they gave up 
their visits to the horrible little villa, to the infinite 
joy of Lisette and her mother. 



CHAPTER III 

Brilliant success of Lisette — Love of her art — The Vernet — Life 
in Paris before the Revolution — Mme. Geoff rin— Marriage 
of Lisette to M. Le Brun — A terrible prediction. 

IN after life Mme. Le Brun used to say that her 
girlhood had not been like that of other young 
girls. And indeed it was not. By the time she was 
fifteen she was already not only a celebrated por- 
trait painter, but very much sought after in society. 
A portrait of her mother, which she painted when 
she was not yet fifteen, excited so much admiration 
that the Duchesse de Chartres, who had often 
looked at her with interest from the gardens of the 
Palais Royal, opposite which she lived, sent for her 
to paint her portrait, and was so delighted with 
the pretty, gentle girl whose talents were so 
extraordinary that she spoke of her to all her 
friends. 

The beautiful Comtesse de Brionne and her 
daughter, the Princesse de Lorraine, who was also 
very pretty, then came to call on her, and their visit 
was followed by those of all the court 3.nd faubourg 

Saint Germain. She also knew all the great artists 

29 



30 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

and literary people, and had more invitations than 
she could accept. 

In her brilliant career, although the odious step- 
father was still a great disadvantage and annoyance, 
it was impossible that he could inflict much of his 
company upon her, full and absorbed as her life 
now was with her professional work and social 
engagements. The most celebrated foreign visitors 
to Paris generally came to see her, amongst the 
first of whom were Count Orloff, one of the 
assassins of Peter III., whose colossal height and 
the enormous diamond in his ring seem to have 
made a great impression upon her ; and Count 
Schouvaloff, Grand Chamberlain, who had been 
one of the lovers of the Empress Elizabeth II., 
but was now a man of sixty, extremely cour- 
teous, pleasant, and a great favourite in French 
society. 

Her first great dinner-party was at the house of 
the sculptor Le Moine, where she met chiefly 
artists and literary people. It was the custom to 
sing at dessert, a terrible ordeal for young girls, 
whose alarm often spoilt their song, but who were 
obliged to sing all the same. 

Joseph Vernet had a little son of whose talent for 
drawing he was very proud ; and one day at a party 
where his friends joked him on his infatuation, he 
sent for the child, gave him a pencil and paper, and 
told him to draw. 

He began at once to draw a horse so well and so 
boldly that murmurs arose. 

" Well 1 Very well ! But he has begun too low 
down, he will have no room for the legs." 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 31 

The boy, however, drew on with unconcern, 
finished the body of the horse, drew the upper 
portion of the legs, and then with a few strokes of 
the pencil indicated water at the bottom of the 
sheet, and gave the impression of a horse bathing 
his legs and feet.^ 

But as dinner-parties then took place in the day- 
time, often as early as two o'clock, Lisette soon 
found it impossible to spare the time to go to them. 
What finally decided her to give them up was an 
absurd contretemps that happened one day when 
she was going to dine with the Princesse de Rohan- 
Rochefort. Just as she was dressed in a white satin 
dress she was wearing for the first time, and ready 
to get into the carriage, she, like her father in former 
days, remembered that she wished to look again at a 
picture she was painting, and going into her studio 
sat down upon a chair which stood before her easel 
without noticing that her palette was upon it. The 
consequences were of course far more disastrous 
than what had befallen her father ; it was impossible 
to go to the party, and after this she declined as a 
rule all except evening invitations, of which she had 
even more than enough. 

These evening parties were usually delightful ; 
those of the Princesse de Rohan-Rochefort were 
especially so. The intimate friends of the Princess, 
the Comtesse de Brionne, Princesse de Lorraine, 
Due de Choiseul, Due de Lauzun, Cardinal de 
Rohan, and M. de Rulhieres, a distinguished lite- 

' " Carle " or Charles Vernet, son of the landscape and marine 
painter Joseph, was a figure painter and father of Horace Vernet 
the battle painter. 



32 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

rary man, were always present, and other pleasant 
and interesting people were to be met there. 

The evenings were spent in brilliant conversation 
and music, supper was at half-past ten, ten or 
twelve guests being the usual number at the table. 

It speaks well for Lisette that her head was not 
the least turned and her reputation blameless, con- 
sidering that at an age when girls in our own day 
are at their lessons in the schoolroom, she, young, 
pretty, attractive, and celebrated, was constantly 
thrown into a society the most corrupt and the 
most fascinating that has perhaps ever existed. 

But although fully enjoying the amusement -and 
admiration that fell to her lot, she passed unscathed 
through the temptations and dangers around her. 
The strength and devotion of her religious prin- 
ciples, the deep love of her art, which was the 
ruling passion of her life, her affection for her 
mother, who was always with her, and to whom she 
confided all her affairs, were her only safeguards. 

She was constantly surrounded by perils and 
temptations which to many would have been irre- 
sistible. Admiring eyes followed her at the theatre, 
people crowded round her in the gardens and 
places of entertainment, men of rank who wanted 
an, opportunity of making love to her had their 
portraits painted by her for that purpose ; but she 
treated them all with indifference, and when she 
noticed that their looks and glances were too 
expressive she would coolly remark : " I am painting 
your eyes now," or would insist on the portrait 
being done with the eyes looking in another direc- 
tion. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 33 

The Marquis de Choiseul had just married a very 
pretty American of sixteen years old, which did not 
prevent his entertaining a violent passion for Lisette, 
and trying to make love to her on all possible occa- 
sions, but greatly increased her indignation at his 
doing so. 

In fact she had given her whole heart to her 
work. She thought and dreamed of nothing but 
painting, her career as an artist was her life, and 
her affection for her mother, her brother, and her 
friends sufficed for her domestic happiness ; she 
wanted neither love intrigues nor even marriage to 
disturb the state of things she found so entirely 
satisfactory. 

So little did the idea of love enter into her life 
that until after her marriage she had never read a 
single novel. Then she read "Clarissa Harlowe," 
by way of a beginning, and found it intensely 
interesting. Before, she only read lives of the 
Saints, and various religious or instructive books. 

It is difficult for those who are accustomed to 
think of Paris only as it is now, to picture to them- 
selves at all what it was like in the eighteenth 
century ; for until years after the Revolution it was, 
to all intents and purposes, a mediaeval city. 

Paris without the wide streets of enormous houses, 
the broad, shady boulevards, the magnificent shops 
and crowded pavements, the glare and wealth and 
luxury of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries ; 
Paris of old France, of the Monarchy, with its 
ancient towers and buildings, its great hotels and 
convents with vast gardens above whose high walls 
rose stately trees ; its narrow, crooked, ill-paved 

4 



34 HEROINES OF FREINCH SOCIETY 

streets, mostly unsafe to walk in after dusk, through 
which troops of cavalry clattered in gay uniforms, 
scattering the foot-passengers right and left, and 
magnificent coaches drawn by four, six, or eight 
horses lumbered heavily along. 

The fetes and pageants of the Church and court 
were most gorgeous and impressive. Even to see 
the King, royal family and court set off for Ver- 
sailles, Fontainebleau, or any other of the country 
palaces was a splendid spectacle, the immense 
number of state coaches which conveyed the King,^ 
the Dauphin, 2 Mesdames de France, 3 their nume- 
rous households and those of the other Princes of 
the blood, made a procession which seemed inter- 
minable. It was the custom that on these occasions 
the court should be in full dress, and Mme. Le 
Brun, in her "Souvenirs," mentions that a few years 
later, after her marriage, she went to see the last of 
these departures in state for Fontainebleau, and 
observes that the Queen, the unfortunate Marie 
Antoinette, covered with diamonds which flashed 
in the sunshine, and with her regal air and majestic 
beauty, looked like a goddess surrounded by her 
nymphs. 4 

The Parisians delighted in any shows or festivities, 
and the royal family were received with acclama- 
tions whenever they appeared from the mob, which 
twenty years later was yelling and howling with 
savage fury for their destruction. 

' The Queen, Marie Leczinska, died 1768. 

" Grandson of Louis XV., afterwards Louis XVL His father 
the Dauphin, died 1765. 

3 Daughters of Louis XV. 

4 " Souvenirs de Mme. Vigee Le Brun," t. i, p. 48. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 35 

Arnault, in his memoirs, relates that he was 
brought up at Versailles, where he was at school 
from 1772 to 1776, and often saw Louis XV. pass in 
his carriage. The King had a calm, noble face and 
very thick eyebrows. He took not the slightest 
notice of the shouts of Vive le roi from the boys 
drawn up in a line, or from the people ; neither did 
Louis XVL when he succeeded him. 

A post in one of the royal households was an 
object of general ambition. Durufle, though a 
poet and well-known literary man who had received 
a prize from the Academy, applied for and obtained 
the appointment of valet de chamhre to the young 
Comte de Provence, second grandson of the King, 
afterwards Louis XVIII., and was in consequence 
obliged to put on his stockings, in doing which he 
accidentally hurt him. 

" How stupid you are ! " cried the young prince, 
angrily. 

" I did not know. Monsieur," replied he, " that 
one was stupid because one did not put on a 
stocking well." 

" People are stupid," answered the prince, " who 
have not the sense to do properly what they under- 
take to do." 

Durufle, who did not like this sort of thing, 
hastened to sell the post he had been so anxious to get.^ 

Most people at that time, like those before the 
flood, had no idea of the possibility of the coming 
destruction. 

Only the encyclopaedists and such persons of 
advanced opinions had any presentiments of the 

' " Souvenirs d'un Sexagenaire " (Arnault). 



36 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

overwhelming changes at hand, and they were far 
from anticipating the horrible calamities and crimes 
they were helping to bring about. 

Their great stronghold was the salon of Mme. 
Geoffrin, where all the radical, atheist, and philo- 
sophic party congregated. D'Alembert, Condorcet, 
Turgot, Diderot, Morellet, Marmontel, and many 
other celebrated names were amongst the intimate 
friends of the singular woman, who although pos- 
sessing neither rank, beauty, talent, nor any parti- 
cular gift, had yet succeeded in establishing a salon 
celebrated not only in France but all over Europe. 
Owing to her want of rank she could not be pre- 
sented at court, and yet amongst her guests were 
many of the greatest names in France, members of 
the royal family, strangers of rank and distinction. 
She knew nothing of art or literature, but her 
Monday dinners and evenings were the resort of 
all the first artists of the day, and her Wednesdays 
of the literary and political world. 

Her salon, had been famous from 1750, before 
Lisette was born, and now, as an old woman, she 
came to visit the young girl of whose artistic genius 
she had heard enough to excite her curiosity. She 
arrived in the morning and expressed great admira- 
tion for the beauty and talent of her young hostess. 

To Lisette she seemed to be about a hundred 
years of age, though she was not really very old, 
but her costume, a dark grey dress and a cap over 
which she wore a large hood tied under her chin, 
and her bent figure, increased the appearance of age. 

Mme. Geoffrin^ was born 1699: her father a 

' Marie Therese Rodet. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 37 

valet de chambre of the Dauphin. He and her mother 
died young and left her and her brother to the 
guardianship of their grandmother, a certain Mme. 
Chemineau, a woman of strong, upright character, 
and a devout CathoHc, but narrow and without much 
education. She brought up her grandchildren with 
care and affection, and married the girl when about 
fourteen to M. Geoffrin, a rich and worthy com- 
mercial man of forty-eight. With him Th^rese lived 
in tranquil obscurity until she was about thirty, 
when she became acquainted with the celebrated 
Mile. Tencin, sister of the Cardinal, over whose 
house and salort she presided, and who, like Mme. 
Geoffrin, lived in the rue St. Honore. 

M. Geoffrin did not altogether approve of his 
wife's perpetual presence at the hotel Tencm, which 
had by no means a good reputation ; and when she 
also began to receive in her own house a few of the 
literary men whom she met there, philosophers, 
freethinkers, and various persons upon whom he 
looked with suspicion, he at first strongly objected. 
But it was useless. His wife had found the sixteen 
years of her married life remarkably dull ; she had 
at length, by good fortune, discovered the means of 
transforming her monotonous existence into one 
full of interest, and the obscurity which had hither- 
to been her lot into an increasing celebrity. She 
turned a deaf ear to his remonstrances, and after a 
good deal of dissension and quarrelling the husband 
gave way and contented himself with looking after 
the household and being a silent guest at the famous 
dinners given by his wife, until at length, on some 
one asking her what had become of the old gentle- 



38 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

man who was always there and never spoke, she 
replied — 

" It was my husband ; he is dead." 

Although stupid, M. Geoffrin was harmless, good, 
and charitable. Their only child, the Marquise de 
la Fert6 Imbault, adored her father, whom she 
preferred to her mother. She was a pretty, high- 
spirited girl, an ardent Catholic, hated her mother's 
atheist friends, and always declared that she had 
forced her into her marriage, which, although a great, 
was not a happy one. 

When Lisette was about twenty, her step-father 
retired from business and took an apartment in the 
rue de Clery in a large house called hotel Lubert, 
which had recently been bought by the well-known 
picture dealer, M. Le Brun. 

Lisette was enchanted at this, as she knew that 
M. Le Brun had rooms full of the most splendid 
pictures of all the different schools, to which she 
would thus have constant access. And her antici- 
pations were more than realised, for M. Le Brun 
was completely fascinated by her, and only too 
delighted not only to show her the pictures, but to 
lend her any she liked to copy. 

For six months she worked with enthusiasm, 
perfectly happy and engrossed with her painting, 
never noticing that her landlord, who was a good- 
looking, pleasant, but exceedingly dissipated man, 
was paying her great attention, havingfallen violently 
in love with her. 

It was therefore a surprise, and not altogether an 
agreeable one, when at the end of the six months he 
asked for her mother's consent to marry her. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 39 

Lisette at first wished to refuse this offer. She 
did not at all dislike M. Le Brun, but she was by no 
means in love with him, and as she could make 
plenty of money by her profession, she had no 
anxiety about the future and no occasion to make 
a manage de coiivenance. But her mother, who 
seems to have had the talent for doing always the 
wrong thing, and who fancied that M. Le Brun was 
very rich, did not cease to persecute her by constant 
representations and entreaties not to refuse such an 
excellent parti, and she was still more influenced by 
the desire to escape from her step-father, who, now 
that he had no occupation, was more at home and 
more intolerable than ever. 

So after much hesitation she consented, but so 
reluctantly, that even on her way to the church 
where the marriage was to be celebrated, ^ she still 
doubted and said to herself, " Shall I say Yes or 
No ? " The wedding, however, took place, and 
she even agreed to its being a private one, and 
being kept secret for some time, because M. Le 
Brun was engaged to the daughter of a Dutchman 
with whom he had considerable dealings in pic- 
tures, and whom he continued to deceive in this 
matter until their business affairs were finished. 

The dishonourable nature of this transaction does 
not seem to have occurred either to her mother or 
to Lisette herself. She was rather glad to keep her 
own name a little longer, but not at all pleased 
when, it being rumoured that she was engaged to 
M. Le Brun, everybody began to warn her on no 
account to marry him. 

' January 11, 1776. 



40 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

M. Auber, jeweller to the Crown, said: "You 
had better fasten a stone to your neck and throw 
yourself into the river than marry Le Brun." 

The Duchesse d'Aremberg, Mme. de Canillac, 
and Mme. de Souza, then Ambassadress to Portu- 
gal, all young and pretty, all friends of Lisette's, 
came to warn her not to marry the man whose 
wife she had already been for a fortnight. 

" In Heaven's name don't marry him," cried the 
Duchess, "You will be miserable." 

And they proceeded to tell her a number of. 
stories, many of which she did not believe, until 
she found out to her cost that they were true ; but 
which, nevertheless, filled her mind with uneasy 
suspicions ; while her mother sat by with tears in 
her eyes, repenting of the new folly by which she 
had again ruined the happiness of her child. 

However, there was no help for it. The marriage 
was shortly acknowledged, and Lisette, whose mind 
was full of her painting, did not allow her spirits to 
be depressed ; more especially as M. Le Brun, al- 
though he gambled and ran after other women, was 
not disagreeable or ill-tempered like her step-father, 
from whose odious presence she was now set free. 
Her husband spent all the money she made, and 
even persuaded her to take pupils, but she did not 
much mind. She never cared about money, and 
she made great friends with her pupils, many of 
whom were older than herself. They put up a 
swing, fastened to the beams in the roof of the 
studio, with which they amused themselves at 
intervals during the lesson. 

During the March that followed the marriage a 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 41 

kind of mission or religious revival went on at Paris ; 
a sort of wave of religious devotion seemed to have 
arisen in opposition to the atheism and irreligion 
of the day. Notre Dame and most of the other 
churches were thronged during the frequent ser- 
vices, religious processions passed through the 
streets amidst excited crowds, friars preached 
and people knelt around them regardless of the 
bitterly cold weather. Strange to say, one of those 
who fell victims to their imprudence was Mme. 
Geoffrin, who, in spite of her infidel friends and 
surroundings, had never really abandoned her 
belief in God> or the practice of her religious 
duties, but had always gone secretly to mass, 
retained a seat in the Church of the Capucines, 
and an apartment in a convent to which she 
occasionally retired to spend a retreat. A chill 
she got at this mission brought on an attack of 
apoplexy, and she remained partly paralysed 
during the remaining year of her life. Her 
daughter, the Marquise de la Fert6 Imbault, took 
devoted care of her, refusing to allow any of her 
infidel friends to visit her, and only admitting 
those whose opinions were not irreligious. 

There was at this same time a perfect rage for 
fortune-telling, second sight, and every sort of 
occult knowledge and experiences. 

The Comtesses de Flahault and de Marigny, two 
sisters, both young, thoughtless, and eager for 
adventures, were anxious to see and consult a 
certain wizard, then very much the fashion, about 
whom their curiosity was greatly aroused by the 
stories told of him. 



42 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

It was not altogether easy in those days for two 
women of their age and class to go out unattended 
and unseen, and if they had been discovered it 
would have caused gossip and scandal. So 
one dark night they disguised themselves as 
grisettes, put on large cloaks with hoods and let 
themselves out through a side door in the garden 
of the hotel. After a long walk they arrived, very 
tired and rather frightened, at a dirty house in 
a bad quarter, on the fifth floor of which the 
wizard lived. They rang a dirty-looking bell, a 
dingy servant appeared with a smoky lamp, and 
led them into a dimly-lighted room adorned with 
deaths' heads and other weird-looking symbols. 
As they looked round them with misgiving a 
concealed door suddenly opened and the wizard 
stood before them dressed in a long flame-coloured 
robe, with a black mask, and began to make passes 
in the air with an ivory wand, using strange words 
they could not understand, while blue sulphur 
flames played around him. 

The two sisters clung to each other in terror, but 
the man, who saw quite well that they were no 
grisettes, came forward respectfully, saying to 
Mme. de Marigny, "Alas 1 Mme. la Comtesse, 
why consult destiny ? It is pitiless. Nothing will 
succeed with you ; you will die young." 

With a cry of alarm she tried to draw her sister 
away, but the wizard, taking her hand, seemed to 
study it carefully, and suddenly dropped it with a 
strange exclamation. 

" Speak," said the Comtesse de Flahault. " Speak ! 
Whatever my future is to be, let me know it. Tell 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 43 

me. I have strength and courage to hear. Be- 
sides, who can assure me that what you say is 
true ? " 

" Have you then such a love of falsehood, 
Madame, that you must have it at any price ? 
Poor woman ! she has not the courage to say she 
believes and fears." 

" Well, yes ! I believe and am afraid. Will you 
speak now ? " 

The sorcerer hesitated, and only after much 
persuasion said slowly and gravely — 

" Monsieur le Comte, your husband, will lose 
his head on the scaffold ; you will leave France 
to live without resources in a foreign land; you 
will work for your living, but after long years 
of exile you will return to France. You will 
marry an ambassador, but you will have other 
vicissitudes." 

Such prophecies in the height of their prosperity 
seemed so absurd that they laughed, gave the 
wizard a large fee, and returned home, thinking 
the whole adventure very amusing. 

However, the predictions were fulfilled. Mme. de 
Marigny, after many misfortunes, died young. The 
Comte de Flahault was guillotined during the 
Terror, and the Comtesse escaped with her son 
to England, where she lived in great poverty 
in a village near London, until a friend of hers, 

the Marquis , also an ejnigre, suggested to her 

that she should write a novel. That same night 
she began "Adele de Senanges," which she sold 
for ;^ioo to a publisher in London, and after which 
she continued by her writing to support herself and 



44 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

educate her boy at a good English school. When 
she returned to France she lived at a small hotel in 
an out-of-the-way part of Paris until she married 
M. de Souza, the Portuguese Ambassador. 




Madaine Vigte Le Brim 
MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE 



To face page 4^ 



CHAPTER IV 

Marie Antoinette — Birth of Mme. Le Brun's daughter — The Royal 
Family — Brussels — Antwerp — The charms of French society — 
The Opera ball — An incident in the Terror — A Greek supper — 
Le jeu de la Reinc. 

IN 1779 Mme. Le Brun painted for the first time 
the portrait of the Queen, then in the splendour 
of her youth and beauty. 

Marie Antoinette was tall, well-formed, with 
perfectly shaped arms, hands and feet, a brilliant 
complexion, bluish-grey eyes, delicate though not 
regular features, a charming expression and a most 
imposing air, which very much intimidated Mme. 
Le Brun during the first sitting, But the kind- 
ness and gentleness with which the Queen talked 
to the young artist soon set her at ease, and when 
the portrait, which was to be presented to the 
Emperor Joseph IL, was finished, she was desired 
to make two copies of it ; one to be sent to the 
Empress Catherine of Russia, the other to be 
placed in the royal apartments, either at Ver- 
sailles or Fontainebleau. After these she painted 
several portraits of the Queen, one of which, in a 
straw hat, was, when exhibited in the Salon, 1786, 
declared by one of those malicious slanders then 
becoming frequent, to be the Queen en chemise. 

45 



46 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

There was by this time a perfect rage to be 
painted by Mme. Le Brun. At a performance at 
the Vaudeville, called "La Reunion des Arts," 
Painting was represented by an actress made up 
into an exact copy of Mme. Le Brun, painting the 
portrait of the Queen. 

Mme. Le Brun was present, having been expressly 
invited to the box of some friends who wanted to 
surprise her, and was deeply gratified and touched 
when all the audience rose and turned towards her 
with enthusiastic applause. 

Her first child, the only one that lived, was born 
in February, 1780. 

Her extraordinary carelessness about everything 
but her painting, caused her to make no sort of 
preparations for this event ; and even the day her 
child was born, although feeling ill and suffering at 
intervals, she persisted in going on working at a 
picture of Venus binding the wings of Love. 

Mme. de Verdun, an intimate friend of hers, came 
to see her in the morning, and regarding her with 
disapprobation, asked whether she had got every- 
thing ready that she would require ; to which 
Lisette, still occupied with her picture, replied with 
a look of astonishment that she did not know what 
she would require. 

"There you are exactly 1 " cried her friend ; " you 
are just like a boy. Well, I warn you that you will 
be confined this evening." 

" No 1 No 1 " exclaimed Lisette, " I have a sitting 
to-morrow. I shan't be confined to-day." 

Mme. de Verdun said no more, but went away and 
sent the doctor. Lisette dismissed him, but he 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 47 

remained concealed in the house until night. The 
child was born about ten o'clock, and Lisette was at 
once passionately fond of it, and as unfortunately 
foolish in her management of it as she was in the 
way she conducted all her affairs except her painting. 
She indulged and spoilt it in so deplorable a manner 
that she ruined her daughter's disposition and her 
own comfort and happiness. 

She had another daughter a year or two later that 
only lived a short time. 

Mme. Le Brun took the greatest pleasure in 
her intercourse with the Queen. Having heard 
that she had a good voice and was passionately 
fond of music, Marie Antoinette asked her to sing 
some of the duets of Gretry with her ; and scarcely 
ever afterwards did a sitting take place without 
their playing and singing together. 

Besides all these portraits of the Queen, Mme. 
Le Brun painted the King, all the rest of the royal 
family except the Comte d'Artois ; the Duke and 
Duchess of Orleans, the Princesse de Lamballe, the 
Duchesse de Polignac, and, in fact, almost everybody. 

Louis XVL, who liked talking to her about her 
pictures, said one day — 

" I know nothing about painting, but you make 
me like it." 

The last time Marie Antoinette ever sat to her was 
at Trianon, when she painted her head for the 
great picture in which the Queen is represented 
with her children, the first Dauphin, i Madame 
Royale,2 and the Due de Normandie,3 which was 

' Died lySg. = Afterwards Duchesse d'Angouleme. 

3 Afterwards Dauphin and then the unfortunate Louis XVII. 



48 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

hung in the Salon of 1788, and excited universal 
admiration. It was afterwards taken to Versailles 
and hung in one of the salons through which the 
Queen always passed on her way to mass. 

After the death of her eldest boy, the sight of this 
picture so affected the Queen that she had it 
removed, taking care to explain to Mme. Le Brun 
that this was done only because she could not bear 
to see it, as it so vividly recalled the child whose 
loss was at that time such a terrible grief to her. 

The days were rapidly approaching when she 
would be thankful that an early death had saved him 
from the fate of his brother. 

In 1782 business took M. Le Brun to Flanders, 
and his wife, who had never travelled, was delighted 
to accompany him. 

They began by attending the sale of a magnificent 
collection of pictures at Brussels, and were received 
with great kindness and attention by the Princesse 
d'Aremberg, Prince de Ligne, and many of the most 
distinguished persons in society. 

The Prince de Ligne invited them to see his 
splendid gallery of pictures, chiefly Rubens and 
Vandyke ; they also visited him at his beautiful 
country place, and after enjoying themselves in 
Brussels, which was extremely gay, they made a 
tour in Holland. Mme. Le Brun entered with 
enthusiasm into all she saw. The quiet, ancient 
towns of North Holland, with their quaint streets of 
red-roofed houses built along canals, with only such 
narrow pavements on each side that no carts or 
carriages could come there, traffic being carried on 
by the great barges and boats gliding down the 




1 II Btarne 



ANTWERP 



Tofacepaire ^ 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 49 

canals, or on foot and on horseback as the pave- 
ments permitted ; and Amsterdam with its splendid 
pictures ; after seeing which they returned to 
Flanders to look again at the masterpieces of 
Rubens in public and private collections. 

The most important part of the tour to Mme. Le 
Brun was her visit to Antwerp, then a mediaeval 
city of extraordinary beauty and interest, which 
have only, in fact, of comparatively recent years 
been destroyed by the vandalism of its inhabitants. 
So striking was its appearance, with its walls, gates, 
and forest of towers rising from the broad Scheldt, 
that Napoleon, enchanted with its beauty, said it 
looked like an Arab city, and he gazed upon it with 
admiration. 

The walls and fortifications were demolished 
within the last fifty years, and before and since then 
many a beautiful historic tower and gateway, many 
a lovely old house and interesting bit of architecture 
has vanished before the destroying mania of a stupid 
town council devoid of either education to com- 
prehend or taste to appreciate and preserve the 
characteristic beauty which, if they had carefully 
restored and maintained all that was possible of the 
old, and carried out the new buildings in harmony 
with them, would have made their city the pearl 
of Belgium, as Nuremberg is of Germany. 

But what to Mme. Le Brun was of great impor- 
tance during her stay at Antwerp was a portrait by 
Rubens, the famous Chapeau de Faille, then in a 
private collection, where she saw and was fascinated 
by it. The effect of light and shade caused by the 
arrangement of the two different lights, the ordinary 

5 



so HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

light and the sunHght, was what chiefly struck her, 
and having studied the picture with deep attention 
she proceeded, on returning to Brussels, to paint 
her own portrait with the same kind of effect : wear- 
ing a straw hat with a wreath of wild flowers, and 
holding a palette in her hand. 

It had great success at the Salon, was engraved by 
Miiller, and was one of those amongst her works 
which decided Joseph Vernet, shortly after her 
return, to propose her as a member of the Royal 
Academy of Painting. She was duly elected, in 
spite of the opposition of M. Pierre, who was 
painter to the King, and a very bad painter too. 

The following lines were circulated by Mme. 
Le Brun's friends upon the occasion ; 

" Au salon ton art vainqueur 
Devrait etre en lumiere 
Pour te ravir cet honneur, 
Lise, il faut avoir le cceur 
De Pierre, de Pierre, de Pierre." 

Mme. Le Brun now worked so hard that she 
made herself ill, often having three sittings a day, 
and she soon became so thin and out of health that 
her friends interfered, and by order of the doctor 
she henceforth, after working all the morning and 
dining in the middle of the day, took a siesta, which 
she found invaluable all her life. The evenings 
were always devoted to society. 

She still lived in the rue de Clery, where M. Le 
Brun had a large, richly furnished apartment, but as 
he used nearly the whole of it as a picture gallery, 
his wife had only two simply furnished rooms for 
herself, which, however, on her at-home nights 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 51 

were thronged with everybody of any distinction, 
either at court or in the town, in fact, so great was 
the crowd that people were to be seen sitting on 
the floor, from which, on one occasion, the Marechal 
de Noailles, being very old and fat, could hardly be 
got up again. 

Such brilliant assemblies are not to be seen in 
these days. Not only the great political and social 
personages, but all the celebrated literary and 
scientific men, poets, painters, composers, musicians, 
and actors, were to be found there, and the music 
was the best to be heard in Paris. 

Often the composers Gretry, Sacchini and Martini 
had portions of their operas performed there before 
their first representation at the theatre, the singers 
were Garat, Asvedo, Richer, Mme. Todi, and 
many well-known amateurs. Cramer and Hul- 
mandel played the piano, Salentin the hautbois, 
Viotti, Jarnovick, Maestrino, and Prince Henry of 
Prussia the violin. 

In those days, as Mme. Le Brun remarks in one 
of her letters, " people had both time and inclination 
to amuse themselves," and the love of music was 
just then so strong and so general that the disputes 
between the rival schools of Gliick and Piccini 
sometimes even amounted to quarrels. She herself 
was a Gliickist, but the Queen and many others 
preferred the Italian music to the German. 

The four women who were her most intimate 
friends, and were always to be found at her parties, 
were the Marquise de Grollier, Mme. de Verdun, 
the Marquise de Sabran, and Mme. le Couteux du 
Molay. Of the rest of her numerous acquaintances 



52 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

she would ask a few at a time to the suppers she 
constantly gave. People arrived about nine o'clock, 
they amused themselves with conversation, music, or 
acting charades, supper was at ten and was extremely 
simple. As it was not considered necessary to give 
costly entertainments on every occasion, people of 
moderate and small fortune were able to receive 
and amuse their friends as often as they liked, with- 
out half-ruining themselves. A dish of fish, a 
chicken, a salad, and a dish of vegetables was the 
supper Mme. Le Brun usually provided for the 
twelve or fifteen people who were her guests, but 
those who went to these parties really amused them- 
selves. 

" No one can judge of what society in France 
was," wrote Mme. Le Brun in her old age, "who 
has not seen the times when after the affairs of the 
day were finished, twelve or fifteen agreeable people 
would meet at the house of a friend to finish the 
evening there." 

The ease and gentle gaiety which pervaded these 
light evening repasts gave them a charm which was 
never found in a dinner-party ; there was a kind of 
intimacy and confidence amongst the guests, who, 
being perfectly well-bred people, knew how to 
dispense with all formality and restraint. 

Society was much smaller, people knew each 
other, or at any rate knew much more about each 
other, than could be the case after the revolution. 
The Comte d'Espinchal was the most extraordinary 
instance of this essentially social life. He passed 
his days and nights in going from one party or 
visit to another ; he knew all about everything going 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 53 

on, important or trivial. He appeared to know 
every one not only at the parties to which he went, 
but in all the boxes at the Opera, and nearly every- 
body he met in the streets, so that it was quite 
inconvenient for him to walk in them, as he was 
stopped every minute. Not only people at court and 
in society, but grisettes, employes of the theatres, 
persons of every class ; but though a perfect mine 
of gossip, he never made mischief. 

One evening he was at the Opera ball, then 
frequented by people in good society. Masked or 
not, they were equally known to M. d'Espinchal, 
who as he walked through the rooms saw a man 
whom he actually did not know, wandering about 
with distracted looks. He went up to him, asking 
if he could be of any use, and was told by the 
perplexed stranger that he had just arrived from 
Orleans with his wife, who had insisted on coming 
to the Opera ball, that he had lost her in the crowd, 
and that she did not know the name of the hotel 
or street where they were. " Calm yourself," said 
M. d'Espinchal, " Madame, your wife is sitting by 
the second window in the foyer. I will take you to 
her," which he did. The husband overwhelmed him 
with thanks and asked how he could possibly have 
known her. 

" It is perfectly simple," replied the Count. 
" Madame being the only woman at the ball whom 
I did not know, I concluded she had just arrived 
from the provinces." 

Balls were not then the crushes they afterwards 
became. The company was not nearly so numerous ; 
there was plenty of room for those who were not 



54 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

dancing to see and hear what was going on. Mme. 
Le Brun, however, never cared for dancing, but 
preferred the houses where music, acting, or con- 
versation were the amusements. One of her 
favourite salons was that of the charge d'affaires of 
Saxony, M. de Riviere, whose daughter had married 
her brother Louis Vigee. He and her sister-in-law 
were constantly at her house. Mme. Vigee acted 
very well, was a good musician, and extremely 
pretty. Louis Vigee was also a good amateur actor ; 
no bad or indifferent acting would have been toler- 
ated in the charades and private theatricals in which 
Talma, Larive, and Le Kain also took part. 

And so the time passed, each day full of interest 
and pleasure, in the gayest and most delightful 
capital in the world ; while the witty, charming, 
light-hearted society who sang and danced and 
acted and talked so brilliantly, felt, for the most 
part, no misgivings about the future, no doubt that 
this agreeable, satisfactory state of things would go 
on indefinitely, although they were now only a very 
few years from the fearful catastrophe towards 
which they were so rapidly advancing, and in which 
most of them would be overwhelmed. Death, ruin, 
exile, horrible prisons, hardships, and dangers of all 
sorts were in store for them, and those who escaped 
by good fortune, by the devotion or kindness of 
others, and occasionally by their own courage, 
foresight, or presence of mind, met each other again 
years afterwards as if they had indeed passed through 
the valley of the shadow of death. 

Amongst the latter was the singer Desaugiers, a 
friend of Gretry, well known for his quick and 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 55 

ready answers. Being still in Paris during the 
Terror, although never of Republican opinions he 
was obliged, of course, to wear the tricolour cockade. 
One day he forgot to put it on and presented 
himself without it at the gate of the Tuileries in 
order to go into the gardens, but was brusquely 
stopped by the official, who asked why he was not 
wearing it ; while a crowd of sinister faces at once 
began to gather round him. Desaugiers saw his 
danger, but with his usual presence of mind showed 
neither fear nor confusion. Taking off his hat he 
looked at it slowly with an air of surprise, saying as 
if to himself — 

" It is true ! I have not my cocarde ! No doubt 
I must have forgotten it and left it on my nightcap." 

Most of the rabid mob believed him to be so 
fanatical a republican that he wore the tricolour 
by night as well as by day ; a few, who guessed the 
truth, admired his presence of mind and let him 
escape. 

Poppo, the celebrated violinist, was also seized 
and dragged before the bloodthirsty comiU de saint 
piihlic. 

" Votre nom ? " i 

"Poppo." 

" Votre profession ? " 

"Je joue du violon." 

" Que faisiez-vous au temps du tyran ? " 



* " Your name ? " 

" Poppo." 

" Your profession ? " 

"I play the violin." 

" What did you do in the time of the tyrant ? " 



56 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

"Je jouais du violon." 

"Que faites vous maintenant ? " 

" Je joue du violon." ' 

" Et que ferez-vous pour la nation ? " 

" Je jouerai du violon." 

Wonderful to say, he was acquitted. 

It was only to be expected that her briUiant 
success, both professional and social, would expose 
Lisette to a considerable amount of gossip, scandal, 
and jealousy, the usual penalty of distinction of any 
kind ; and she was constantly being annoyed by 
some false accusation or preposterous story being 
circulated about her. 

Amongst other absurd inventions it was reported 
that she had given a supper in the Greek style which 
had cost twenty thousand francs. This story had 
been repeated first at Versailles, then at Rome, 
Vienna, and St. Petersburg, by which time the sum 
mentioned had risen to eighty thousand francs. 

The truth was that this famous supper, which did 
take place, cost about fifteen francs, and consisted 
of a chicken and a dish of eels, both dressed after 
Greek recipes, taken from the " Voyages d'Ana- 
charsis," which Louis Vigee had been reading tD his 
sister ; two dishes of vegetables, a cake made of 
honey and little currants, and some old Cyprus 
wine, which was a present to her. 



" I played the violin." 

" What do you do now ? " 

" I play the violin." 

" And what shall you do for the nation ? " 

" I shall play the violin." 

— " Salons d' Autrefois " (de Bassanyille), 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 57 

The idea was suddenly suggested to the brother 
and sister by the book they were reading, and as 
she expected several people to supper, she arranged 
the rooms with draperies after the ancient Greek 
fashion, borrowed from the Comte de Parois, who 
lived in the house and had a collection of Greek 
things, all the vases, pitchers, pots, and cups she 
wanted, arranged the table in the same style, and as 
her friends arrived, proceeded to dress them one 
after another in Greek costumes, which she took 
from the mass of costumes and draperies in her studio. 

The poet Le Brun-Pindare, dressed in a long 
purple cloak, represented Anacreon. The other 
guests were M. and Mme. Vigee, her brother, 
M. de Riviere, Mme. Chalgrin, daughter of Joseph 
and sister of Charles Vernet, Mme. de Bonneuil and 
her pretty child, afterwards Mme. Regnault de Saint- 
Jean d'Angely, the Marquis de Cubieres, the Comte 
de Vaudreuil, M. Boutin, M. Ginguen^, and the 
famous sculptor Chaudet. 

Mme. Le Brun was asked by several persons of 
importance to repeat this supper, but always de- 
clined. 

That the Marquis de Cubieres was present proved 
to be fortunate, as the King, vexed by the reports 
he heard of the enormous expense of this supper, 
spoke to him about it and was promptly un- 
deceived. 

However, in the earlier days of Marie Antoinette, 
especially while she was still Dauphine, the play 
that went on at court, and in which she took a 
conspicuous part, was high enough to give rise to 
grave scandal. 



58 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

The Queen was in the habit of playing pharaon 
every evening, and on one occasion she noticed that 
M. de Chaiabre, who kept the bank, whilst he was 
picking up the money of those who had lost, took 
advantage of a moment when he thought nobody 
was looking, to put a rouleau of fifty louis into his 
pocket. 

When every one was leaving she signed to him to 
remain, and when they were alone said to him — 

" Monsieur de Chaiabre, I wish to know why you 
took from the game to-night a rouleau of fifty 
louis ? " 

" A rouleau, Madame ! " 

" Yes, Monsieur ; you put it into the right-hand 
pocket of your coat." 

" Since your Majesty saw me, I must inform the 
Queen that I removed that rouleau of gold because 
it is false." 

" False ! Your proof. Monsieur ? " 

Taking the rouleau out of his pocket, he tore the 
envelope and showed that it was lead skilfully 
worked. 

The Queen turned pale. 

" Did you notice who put it on the table ? " she 
asked. 

M. de Chaiabre at first denied, but on the Queen's 
insisting confessed that it was the young Comte 

de , whose father was an ambassador, and was 

then abroad. The Queen desired him to keep the 
affair secret, and the next evening when the young 
Count approached the tables she said, smiling — 

" Monsieur le Comte, I promised Madame, your 
mother, to take you under my guardianship during 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 59 

her absence. Our play is too high for a young 
man ; you will play no more pharaon at Court." 

The lad understood, blushed crimson, and retired, 
profoundly grateful for being let off so easily. 
Neither was the lesson lost upon him ; after this 
he played no more.^ 

' "Salons d'Autrefois" (Bassanville). 



CHAPTER V 

The theatre — Raincy — Chantilly — Calonne — Attempt to ruin the 
reputation of Mme. Le Brun — Two deplorable marriages — 
Fate of Mme. Chalgrin — Under the shadow of death — 
Mme. Du Barry. 

THE theatre was a passion with Mme. Le 
Brun, and all the more interesting to her 
from her friendships with some of the chief actors 
and actresses, and her acquaintance with most of 
them, from the great geniuses such as Talma, Mile. 
Mars, and Mile. Clairon to the debutantes like Mile. 
Rancourt, whose career she watched with sympa- 
thetic interest. For Mme. Dugazon, sister of Mme. 
Vestris and aunt of the famous dancer Vestris, she 
had an unmixed admiration ; she was a gifted artist 
and a Royalist heart and soul. One evening when 
Mme. Dugazon was playing a soubrette, in which 
part came a duet with a valet, who sang : 

^^J'aime mon maitre tendrement," 

to which she had to answer : 

"i4/f, comnie j'aime ma mattresse ;" 

as she sang these words she laid her hand upon 

60 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 6i 

her heart and, turning to the Queen's box, bowed 
profoundly. As this was in the beginning of the 
Revolution, there were many who wished to revenge 
themselves in consequence, and tried to force her 
to sing one of the horrible revolutionary songs 
which were then to be heard constantly upon 
the stage. She refused indignantly, and left the 
theatre. Her husband, Dugazon, the comic actor, 
on the contrary, played an atrocious part during 
the Revolution. Although he had been loaded 
with benefits by the royal family, especially the 
Comte d'Artois, he was one of those who pursued 
them to Varennes. Mme. Le Brun was told by an 
eye-witness that he had seen this wretch at the 
door of the King's carriage with a gun upon his 
shoulder. 

It was impossible to spare much time to be absent 
from Paris, but Mme. Le Brun often spent two or 
three days at the magnificent chateaux to which she 
was invited, either to paint a portrait or simply as a 
guest. 

For the former reason she spent some time at 
Raincy, ^ then the residence of the Duke of Orleans, 
father of Philippe-Egalite, where she painted his 
portrait, and that of his morganatic wife, Mme. 
de Montesson. While she was there the old Prin- 
cesse de Conti came one day to see Mme. de 
Montesson, and much to her surprise always 
addressed Mme. Le Brun as " Mademoiselle." As 
it was shortly before the birth of her first child, this 
rather startled her, and she then recollected that it 

' Raincy was afterwards bought by Junot, Due d'Abrantes, who 
sold it again to Napoleon. 



62 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

had been the custom in former days for grandees of 
the court so to address their inferiors. It was a 
survival that she never met with but upon this occa- 
sion, as it had quite come to an end with Louis XV. 
Mme. Le Brun never cared to stay at Raincy, 
which she found uncongenial ; but she delighted in 
several of the other chateaux where she stayed, 
above all in Chantilly, where the Prince de Conde 
gave the most magnificent fetes, and where the 
grandeur of the chateau and the beauty of the 
gardens, lakes, and woods fascinated her. 

Another place at which she liked staying was 
Gennevilliers, which belonged to the Comte de 
Vaudreuil, a great friend of hers, and one of the 
subjects of malicious gossip about her. Gennevil- 
liers was not so picturesque as the other places, but 
there was an excellent private theatre. The Comte 
d'Artois and all his society always came to the 
representations there. 

The last at which Mme. Le Brun was present 
was the Manage de Figaro, played by the actors 
of the Com^die Fran^aise ; but, as she observes in 
one of her letters, Beaumarchais ^ must have intoler- 
ably tormented M. de Vaudreuil to induce him to 
allow the production of a piece so improper in 
every respect. Dialogue, couplets, all were directed 
against the court, many belonging to which were 
present, besides the Comte d'Artois himself. Every- 
body was uncomfortable and embarrassed except 
Beaumarchais^ himself, who had no manners and 

' The author of the play. 

* Beaumarchais was the son of a watchmaker born at Paris 1732. 
His talent for music led to his giving lessons to Mesdames de 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 63 

was beside himself with vanity and conceit, running 
and fussing to and fro, giving himself absurd airs, 
and when some one complained of the heat, break- 
ing the windows with his stick instead of opening 
them. 

Shortly after this he called upon the Comte 
de Vaudreuil at Versailles one morning just after he 
was up, and confided to him a financial scheme by 
which he expected enormous profit, ending by 
offering M. de Vaudreuil a large sum of money if 
he would undertake to make it succeed. 

The Count listened quietly to all he said, and 
then replied — 

" Monsieur de Beaumarchais, you could not have 
come at a more favourable moment ; for I have had 
a very good night, I have a good digestion, and I 
never felt better than I do to-day. If you had made 
me such a proposal yesterday I should have had 
you thrown out of the window." 

Another of the people declared to be in love 
with Mme. Le Brun, and about whom there was so 
much gossip as to cause her serious annoyance, 
was M. de Calonne, the brilliant, extravagant, fasci- 
nating Finance Minister of Louis XVI. ^ 

What made this all the more provoking was that 
M. de Calonne was not even, like M. de Vaudreuil, 

France. He made a fortune by his financial talents, and was 
famous as an author. He wrote " The Marriage of Figaro," " The 
Barber of Seville," &c., was a freethinker, revolutionist, and at 
first member of the Commune of Paris ; but he fell out of favour, 
was ruined, imprisoned in the Abbaye during the Terror, narrowly 
escaped with his life, and died some years afterwards. 

" Son of the President of the Parliament of Flanders. He rose, it 
is said, by questionable means to a high position in finance. 



64 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

a great friend of hers. She did not know him at 
all intimately, and in fact only once went to a party 
given by him at the Ministere des finances, and that 
was because the soiree was in honour of Prince 
Henry of Prussia, who was constantly at her house. 
The splendid portrait she painted of Calonne was 
exhibited in the Salon of 1786. Mile. Arnould 
remarked on seeing it, " Mme. Le Brun has cut his 
legs off to keep him in the same place," alluding to 
the picture being painted to the knees. 

All sorts of preposterous stories were circulated 
about it and about them. Some said M. de Calonne 
had given Mme. Le Brun a number of bonbons, 
called papillottes, wrapped up in bank-notes ; others 
that she had received in a pasty a sum of money 
large enough to ruin the treasury : the truth being 
that he had sent her, as the price of his portrait, 
four thousand francs in notes in a box worth about 
twenty louis, and this was considered by no means 
a high price for the picture. M. de Beaujon had 
given her eight thousand francs for a portrait of the 
same size a short time before, without anybody 
finding the least fault. The character of Calonne 
was such that no woman who cared about her 
reputation would wish her name to be connected 
with his. 

The first step in his rapid rise he is said to have 
owed to having left about some compromising 
papers of his friend Chalotais on a bureau, where 
they were found, and the disclosure of their con- 
tents caused the ruin and imprisonment of Chalo- 
tais and others, about the year 1763. After this he 
continued to prosper financially, politically, and 




Madame V. 

CHARLES ALEXANDRE DE CALONNE 



To face page 6^ 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 65 

socially, until another intrigue raised him to the 
height of power. 

He was deeply in love with Mme. d'Harvelay, 
whose husband was the banker and intimate friend 
of M. de Vergennes, then Foreign Minister. Mme. 
d'Harvelay, who returned his passion and carried 
on a secret liaison with him, used her influence with 
her husband to induce M. de Vergennes to push 
him on. The husband, who was fascinated by 
Calonne and did not know or suspect what was 
going on, was persuaded by his wife one day to 
write a confidential letter to Vergennes on the 
subject of the general alarm then beginning to be 
felt about the disastrous state of the finances and 
the peril threatening the Monarchy itself, in which 
he declared Calonne to be the only man who could 
save the situation. The Court was then at Fon- 
tainebleau, and it was contrived that this letter 
should be shown to the King in the evening, after 
he had retired to supper with his family. 

Next day the destinies of France were in the 
hands of Calonne. 

Dissipated, unscrupulous, with no money and 
owing 200,000 ecus, the new Controletir-general des 
Finances found an empty treasury, an enormous 
mass of debt, alarm and perplexity in the Govern- 
ment, and gathering fury and suspicion amongst 
the populace. 

As to the plans he proposed to meet this grave 
state of affairs, Louis Blanc declares that his frivolity 
was only upon the surface, ^ and that his designs 
were wise, bold, and strongly conceived. Other 

' " Histoire de la Revolution Franfaise " (Louis Blanc). 
6 



66 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

historians assert that he had no plan at all except 
to borrow money, spend it, and then borrow more. 

However that might be, he spent enormous sums, 
lavished money upon the Princes and the Queen, 
for whom Saint Cloud was bought, and to whom 
he said upon one occasion — 

" Madame, si c'est possible c'est fait ; si c'est im- 
possible, cela ce fera."'^ 

He and Vergennes were said to have wasted the 
revenues of France, but at any rate he spent money 
like a gentleman, and when, in 1787, he was dis- 
missed from office, he did not possess an ecu. 

He was one of the earliest to emigrate, and at 
Cobleatz he met his old love, Mme. de Harvelay, 
now a rich widow and willing to marry him. He 
spent her fortune, and later on tried to get employ- 
ment under Napoleon, who would have nothing to 
do with him, and he died in comparative obscurity. 

The royalist sympathies and associations of Mme. 
Le Brun made her particularly obnoxious to the 
Radical party, to whom lies and calumnies were 
all welcome as weapons to be used against political 
opponents. She was therefore assailed by shoals of 
libels, accusing her of a liaison with M. de Calonne, 
by people who were absolutely unknown to her. 

One Gorsas, a violent Radical whom she had 
never seen or heard of, was especially violent in the 
atrocities he poured forth against her for no reason 
whatever. He was a political writer and afterwards 
a Jacobin, but met with his due reward, for he was 



' Alluded to in letter from the Queen to Mercy d'Argenteau, in 
the Archives of Vienna. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 67 

arrested by the Revolutionists he admired so greatly, 
and guillotined. 

M. Le Brun was just then building a house in the 
rue Gros-Chenet, and one of the reports spread was 
that M. de Calonne paid for it, although both 
M. and Mme. Le Brun were making money enough 
to afford themselves much greater expenditure than 
that. 

Lisette complained bitterly to her husband, who 
only told her to let them talk, and treated the 
matter with indignant contempt. 

But Lisette fretted and made herself unhappy, 
especially when a deliberate attempt was made to 

destroy her reputation by a certain Mme. S , 

who lived in the rue Gros-Chenet, to which she 
herself had not yet removed. 

Mme. S was carrying on a liaison with 

Calonne, who was very much in love with her and 
very often at her house ; she was also sitting for 
her portrait to Mme. Le Brun, who looked upon 
her as a pretty, gentle, attractive woman, but 
thought the expression of her face rather false. 

One day, while she was sitting to Mme. Le Brun, 

Mme. S asked her to lend her carriage to her 

that evening to go to the theatre. Mme. Le Brun 
consented, but when she ordered the carriage next 
morning at eleven o'clock she was told that neither 
carriage, horses, nor coachman had come back. 

She sent at once to Mme. S , who had passed 

the night at the hotel des Finances and had not yet 
returned. It was not for some days that Mme. 
Le Brun made this discovery by means of her 
coachman, who had been bribed to keep silent, but 



68 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

had nevertheless told the story to several persons in 
the house. 

It was, of course, obvious that this was done in 
order that the carriage and servants of Mme. 
Le Brun being seen at night at the hotel des 
Finances, the scandal might be diverted from 
Mme. S to the innocent owner of the carriage. 

Whether this dastardly trick was done out of 
mere spite and envy, or only in order to save the 
reputation of the guilty woman at the expense of 
the innocent one, Mme. Le Brun never knew, and 
of course had no more communication with the 
person in question. 

Mme. Vigee, or rather Mme. le Sevre, had cer- 
tainly, by her obstinate folly, succeeded in ruining 
first her own life, then her daughter's ; for the two 
deplorable marriages she had arranged, both of 
them entirely for mercenary reasons, had turned 
out as badly as possible. Her own was the worst, 
as the husband she had chosen was the more 
odious of the two men, and she had no means of 
escaping from him ; but Lisette's was disastrous 
enough. 

M. le Brun, though neither disagreeable nor 
ill-tempered, was impossible on account of the 
dissipated life he led. Always running after other 
women, always gambling and in debt, spending 
not only his own money but all his wife's earnings, 
another woman would have left him or led a 
miserable life. Not so Lisette. She lived in his 
house on friendly terms with him, though their 
marriage had long been one only in name. 

She cared so little for money, and her dress, her 



MADAME VIG^E LE BRUM 69 

entertainments and requirements were so simple, 
that she let him spend all she earned ; whilst her 
occupations, professional and social, were so en- 
grossing, and her life so full of interest, excitement, 
and enjoyment, that she was content to make the 
best of things and let her husband go his way, 
while she followed her own career among the 
friends and pursuits she loved. 

Besides the immense number of her friends and 
acquaintance of later years, she kept up faithfully 
those of her early days. Her old fellow student. 
Mile. Boquet, had given up the profession in which 
she was getting on so well, and married a M. Fil- 
leul, whom the Queen had made her concierge de la 
MnetieJ 

With the Vernet family, too, she was on intimate 
terms. The landscape painter, Joseph Vernet, was 
always a kind friend to her. His son Charles, or 
Carle, as he was called, was also an artist, and his 
daughter Emilie, the wife of M. Chalgrin, was 
constantly at her house. 

The Vernet 2 were staunch Royalists, and watched 
with horror and dread only too well justified the 
breaking out of the Revolution. 

Carle was a captain in the garde nationale, and 
lodged with his family in the Louvre when, on the 
loth of August, 1792, the mob attacked the 
Tuileries. As the windows began to break and 
the shots to rattle round them it was evident that 
they were all in great danger. Carle caught up in 
his arms his youngest child, Horace,3 then three 

' One of the royal chateaux. - " Les Trois Vernet." 

3 Afterwards the celebrated painter. 



70 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

years old, and mounted his horse, his wife accom- 
panying him carrying their Httle daughter. 

As he rode across the Carrousel Carle was a 
conspicuous mark for the mob, who took him for 
one of the Swiss guards, as he had unfortunately 
taken off his uniform, and not having time to put it 
on, was wearing a white vest with a red collar. He 
was several times fired at, and wounded in the 
hand, but succeeded in reaching a place of safety 
with his wife and children. 

His sister Emilie was not so fortunate. Arrested 
upon some frivolous pretext, she was thrown into 
prison. In desperate anxiety Carle flew to David, 
who, though a terrorist himself, was a comrade and 
friend of his, and would surely use his influence to 
help them. David, however, either could or would 
do nothing ; Mme. Chalgrin was dragged before 
the revolutionary tribunal, convicted of having 
corresponded with the princes, condemned, and 
executed. 

One of David's most rising pupils before the 
Revolution was young Isabey, son of a peasant of 
Franche Comt6, who had made money and was 
rich. 

Old Isabey had a passion for art, and having two 
boys resolved to make one a painter, the other a 
musician ; and as Louis, the elder one, was always 
scribbling upon walls and everywhere figures of all 
sorts, his father, regardless of the fact that the 
drawings were not at all good, assured his son that 
he would be a great artist, perhaps painter to the 
King ; and as the younger boy, Jean-Baptiste,i was 
' Jean-Baptiste Isabey, b. at Nancy, 1767. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 71 

constantly making a deafening noise with trumpets, 
drums, castagnettes, &c., he decided that he should 
be a musician. 

As the lads grew older, however, their talents 
developed in exactly opposite directions, so that 
their father found himself obliged to consent to a 
change of plans with regard to their education. 
Louis, in fact, became ultimately first violinist to 
the Emperor Alexander of Russia, while Jean-Bap- 
tiste, casting aside his noisy musical instruments, 
studied painting with enthusiasm, went to Paris in 
1786, and with much difficulty succeeded in getting 
into the studio of David, from which he was shortly 
afterwards on the point of being expelled, because 
he made a picture of David as a wild boar, sur- 
rounded by his pupils in the form of little pigs ; all 
excellent likenesses. 

Having no money young Isabey supported him- 
self at Paris by making designs for snuff-boxes and 
buttons. The Comte d'Artois saw the buttons, 
which had become very much the fashion, admired 
them, and desired that Isabey should be presented 
to him. He was also presented to the Comtesse 
d'Artois, rapidly got commissions, painted portraits 
of different members of the royal family and court, 
and was becoming more and more prosperous 
when the Revolution broke out, and he was 
apparently ruined. 

One day he and other pupils of David had the 
fancy to spend an idle hour in listening to the 
debates in the Assemblee, where every one went in 
and out at their pleasure. 

But they were very little edified by what they 



72 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

heard and saw. The Abb6 Maury was speak- 
ing, and the outrageous behaviour, the rows and 
quarrels, the discreditable manner in which the 
discussions were carried on, so shocked them that 
they allowed their disgust to be more apparent than 
was prudent. 

Presently they observed a strange, ugly-looking 
man, who was watching them with a mocking 
smile. 

" What gives you the right to laugh at us, Mon- 
sieur ? " asked one of them, with irritation. 

" Your youth, mes amis ; and above all your 
naivete. Laws are like sauces : you should never 
see them made." 

He bowed and turned away ; it was Mirabeau. 

The acquaintance thus begun was a fortunate one 
for Isabey. In despair at the disappearance of the 
court and apparently of his own chance of getting 
on with his profession, he was thinking of giving it 
up. Mirabeau advised him to stick to it and gave him 
the commission to paint his own portrait. 

He persevered accordingly, passed safely through 
the Revolution, and was a favourite court painter 
during the Empire and Restoration. 

One dark, gloomy day, during the height of the 
Terror, he was sitting in his studio early in the morn- 
ing, busily making up the fire in his stove, for it was 
bitterly cold. There was a knock at the door, and 
a woman wrapped in a large cloak stood on the 
threshold, saying — 

"You are the painter, Isabey ?" 

" Yes. What do you want of me ? " 
" I want you to do my portrait at once," 



MADAME VIGtE LE BRUN 73 

" Diable ! At once ? You are in great haste," 
said he, smiling. 

" It is not I who am in haste ; it is the 
guillotine," replied the stranger. " To-day I am on 
the suspected list, to-morrow I shall no doubt be 
condemned. I have children. I wish to leave them 
a remembrance of me, that is why I come to ask 
you to paint my portrait. Will you ? " 

"I am ready, Madame," he said, beginning at 
once to prepare his palette and brushes. " In what 
costume do you wish to be painted ? " 

" In this," she answered ; and throwing off her 
hood and cloak, he saw a woman still young and 
pretty, her hair powdered and covered with a simple 
little cap, a grey silk dress, green apron, high-heeled 
shoes, and a carton in her hand. 

" I am Mme. Venotte," she went on. " I had 
the honour to be marchande de dentelles to la sainte 
reine whom they have sent to God. I wish my 
children always to see me in the costume I used to 
wear when Marie Antoinette deigned to admit me to 
her presence." 

Though he painted this portrait in haste, with 
tears in his eyes, it was one of the best ever done by 
Isabey.'^ 

In 1786 Mme. Le Brun received an invitation to 
paint the portrait of Mme. Du Barry, the once lovely 
and all powerful favourite of Louis XV. With 
great curiosity she went down to the chateau of 
Louveciennes, given to his mistress by the late 
King, where she still lived in luxury but almost in 
solitude, for of the courtiers and acquaintances who 
' " Salons d'Autrefois " (Ctsse. de Bassanville). 



74 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

had crowded round her in the days of her prosperity 
scarcely any remembered her now. 

Louveciennes^ was near Marly and Versailles. 
The chateau built by Louis XV. was in a delightful 
park, but there was a melancholy feeling about the 
whole place. 

The career of Jeanne Vaubernier, Comtesse Du 
Barry, was a most extraordinary one. Her father 
was a workman, and she, after being a milliner's 
apprentice for some years, lived under the name of 
Mile. Lange, in a house of bad fame, where she 
became the mistress of Count Jean Du Barry, who 
in 1769 presented her to Louis XV., who was deeply 
fascinated by her wonderful beauty, and over whom, 
after having gone through the form of marriage 
with the brother of Jean Du Barry, she reigned 
supreme during the remainder of his life. But 
her day of power and splendour was only a short 
one, for the King died five years afterwards (1774), 
when she was, of course, immediately obliged to 
leave the court and live in retirement ; probably 
much sooner than she expected, for Louis XV. was 
only sixty-three when he fell a victim to smallpox. 
The twelve years had been spent in her chateau, 
where the Due de Brissac took the place of his 
royal predecessor. 

Mme. Du Barry received Mme. Le Brun with the 
greatest politeness and attention ; she was now 
about forty-two, and still extremely handsome. 
The brilliant beauty of her complexion had begun 
to fade, but her face was still charming, her features 

' Or Luciennes. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 75 

beautiful, her figure tall and well-made, and her hair 
fair and curled like that of a child. 

Her way of living was very simple ; she walked 
about the park summer and winter, visited the poor, 
to whom she was most kind and generous, wore 
muslin or cambric dresses, and had very few visitors. 
The only two women who came much to see her 
were Mme. de Souza, the Portuguese Ambassadress, 
and the Marquise de Brunoy. M. de Monville, a 
pleasant, well-bred man, was frequently there, and 
one day the Ambassador of Tippoo Sahib arrived to 
visit her, bringing a present of a number of pieces 
of muslin richly embroidered with gold, one of 
which she gave to Mme. Le Brun. The Due de 
Brissac was of course there also, but, though 
evidently established at the chateau, there was 
nothing either in his manner or that of Mme. 
Du Barry to indicate anything more than friend- 
ship between them. Yet Mme. Le Brun saw plainly 
enough the strong attachment which cost them 
both their lives. 

Under her own room, which looked out towards 
Marly, Mme. Le Brun discovered a gallery in 
which were huddled together all sorts of magni- 
ficent marbles, busts, vases, columns, and other 
costly works of art, the relics of former grandeur. 

Every day after dinner, they had their coffee in 
the splendid pavilion of Louis XV. It was deco- 
rated and furnished with the greatest luxury and 
magnificence, the chimney-piece, doors, and locks 
were precious works of art. 

The first time they entered it Mme. Du Barry 
said, " It was in this room that Louis XV. used to 



76 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

do me the honour to dine. There was a tribune 
above for the musicians who played and sang 
during dinner." 

Mme. Le Brun generally spent the evening alone 
with Mme. Du Barry by the fireside. The latter 
would sometimes talk of Louis XV. and his court, 
always with respect and caution. But she avoided 
many details and did not seem to wish to talk about 
that phase of her life. Mme. Le Brun painted three 
portraits of her in 1786, 1787, and in September, 1789. 
The first was three-quarters length, in a peignoir 
with a straw hat ; in the second, painted for the 
Due de Brissac, she was represented in a white 
satin dress, leaning one arm on a pedestal and 
holding a crown in the other hand. This picture 
was afterwards bought by an old general, and when 
Mme. Le Brun saw it many years later, the head 
had been so injured and re-painted that she did not 
recognise it, though the rest of the picture was 
intact. 

The third portrait Mme. Le Brun retained in her 
own possession — for she had begun it in September, 
1789, when the terrors of the Revolution were be- 
ginning. As she painted at Louveciennes they 
could hear the thunder of the cannonades, and the 
unfortunate Mme. Du Barry said to her — 

" If Louis XV. were alive all this would certainly 
not have happened." 

When she had painted the head and sketched out 
the arms and figure, Mme. Le Brun was obliged to 
go to Paris. She intended to come back to finish 
her work, but she found the murder of Foulon and 
Berthier had just taken place, and the state of 




Painted by herself 



MADAME LE BRUN ET SA FILLE 



To face page t6 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 77 

affairs was so alarming that her one object was to 
get out of France. The portrait fell into the hands 
of Count Louis de Narbonne, who restored it to her 
on her return — when she finished it. 

The fate of Mme. Du Barry is well known. She 
escaped to England where she was kindly received, 
and where the great value of her diamonds enabled 
her to live quite well herself, and also to help many 
of the emigres, to whom she was most generous. 
But the Due de Brissac had remained concealed at 
Louveciennes, and she insisted on going back to 
him. The friends she made in England pointed 
out the danger of doing so, and did all they could to 
dissuade her — they even unharnessed the horses of 
her travelling carriage. It was all useless, she would 
go. Soon after her return to Louveciennes the Due 
de Brissac was seized and carried away from her to 
be taken to Orleans. On the way he and his com- 
panions were attacked and murdered by the mob 
and his head brought to Mme. Du Barry. Then 
she herself was betrayed and denounced by a little 
negro named Zamore, who was in her service, and 
had been loaded with benefits and kindness by 
Louis XV. and by herself. In consequence of the 
denunciation of this wretch she was thrown into 
prison, tried, and executed at the end of 1793. 

In all those terrible days she was the only woman 
whose courage failed at the last. She cried and 
entreated for help from the crowd around the 
scaffold, and that crowd began to be so moved 
by her terror and despair that the execution was 
hurried on lest they should interfere to prevent it. 

Mme. Le Brun, alluding to this circumstance. 



78 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

remarks that in all probability the very heroism and 
calmness of the victims helped to prolong this 
horrible state of things. 

" I have always been persuaded," she says in one 
of her letters, " that if the victims of that time of 
execrable memory had not had the noble pride to 
die with courage, the Terror would have ceased 
much sooner. Those whose intelligence is not 
developed have too little imagination to be touched 
by silent suffering, and it is much easier to arouse 
the compassion than the imagination of the 
populace. 



CHAPTER VI 

End of the ancien regime — Foretaste of the Revolution — Threatened 
— Resolves to emigrate — Another alarm — Preparations — " You 
are wrong to go" — A terrible journey — Safe across the 
frontier. 

THE year 1788 was the last of the old regime. 
Mme. Le Brun was now thirty-two and at the 
height of her fame and prosperity. She had more 
commissions than she could execute, more engage- 
ments than she could keep, more invitations than 
she could accept, but her mind was full of gloomy 
presentiments. She passed the summer as usual 
between Paris and the country houses where she 
stayed. 

As she drove with a friend down to Romainville to 
stay with the Comte de Segur, she noticed that the 
peasants they met in the roads did not take off their 
hats to them, but looked at them insolently, and 
sometimes shook their sticks threateningly at them. 

While she was at Romainville there was a most 
awful storm, the sky which had become deep yellow 
with black clouds of alarming appearance, seemed 
to open and pour forth flash after flash of lightning, 
accompanied by deafening thunder and enormous 
hailstones, which ravaged the country for forty 
leagues round Paris. Pale and trembling, Mme. de 

79 



8o HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Segur and Mme. Le Brun sat looking at each other 
in terror, fancying that they saw in the awful tempest 
raging around them, the beginning of the fearful 
times whose approach they now foresaw. 

When the storm had subsided the peasants were 
crying and lamenting over the destruction of their 
crops, and all the large proprietors in the neigh- 
bourhood came most generously to their assistance. 
One rich man distributed forty thousand francs 
among them. The next year he was one of the 
first to be massacred. 

As time went on and affairs became more and 
more menacing, Mme. Le Brun began to consider 
the advisability of leaving the country, and placing 
herself and her child out of the reach of the dangers 
and calamities evidently not far distant. 

Early in 1789 she was dining at La Malmaison, 
which then belonged to the Comte de Moley, a 
rabid Radical ; he and the Abbe de Sieyes and 
several others were present, and so fierce and violent 
was their talk that even the Abbe de Sieyes said 
after dinner — 

" Indeed, I think we shall go too far ; " while the 
Comtesse du Moley and Mme. Le Brun were horror- 
stricken at the terrible prospects unfolded to them. 

After this, Mme. Le Brun went for a few days to 
Marly to stay with Mme. Auguier, sister of Mme. 
Campan, and attached like her to the Queen's 
household. 

One day as they were looking out of a window 
into the courtyard which opened on to the road, 
they saw a man stagger in and fall down. 

Mme. Auguier sent her husband's valet de chambre 



MADAME VIGiE LE BRUM 8i 

to help him up, and take him into the kitchen. 
Presently the valet returned, saying, " Madame is 
indeed too kind ; that man is a wretch. Here are 
some papers which have fallen out of his pocket." 
He gave them several sheets of papers, one of which 
began, " Down with the Royal Family ! down with 
the nobles ! down with the priests ! " and all of 
which were filled with a tissue of blasphemies, 
litanies of the Revolution, threats and predictions 
horrible enough to make their hair stand on end. 

Mme. Auguier sent for the niarechausse, four of 
whom appeared, and took the fellow in charge ; 
but the valet de chambre who followed them un- 
perceived, saw them, as soon as they thought them- 
selves out of sight, singing and dancing, arm in 
arm with their prisoner. 

Terror-stricken, they agreed that these papers 
must be shown to the Queen, and when, a day or 
two afterwards, Mme. Auguier was in waiting, 
she took them to Marie Antoinette, who read and 
returned them saying — 

" These things are impossible. I shall never 
believe they meditate such atrocities." 

Mme. Auguier's affection for the Queen cost her 
her life. In the fury of the Revolution, knowing 
her to be without money, she lent Marie Antoinette 
twenty-five louis. This became known, and a mob 
rushed to her house to take her to prison and execu- 
tion. In a frenzy of terror Mme. Auguier threw herself 
out of the window, and was killed on the spot.^ 

' Her daughters were brought up by her sisters Mesdames 
Campan and Rousseau at the celebrated school of the former ; one 
married Marshal Ney. 

7 



82 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

The last time Mme. Le Brun saw the Queen was 
at the last ball given at Versailles, which took place 
in the theatre, and at which she looked on from one 
of the boxes. She observed with indignation the 
rudeness of some of the young Radical nobles ; they 
refused to dance when requested to do so by the 
Queen, whose agitation and uneasiness were only too 
apparent. The demeanour of the populace was 
becoming every day more ferocious and alarming ; 
the drives and streets were scarcely safe for any but 
the lower classes. At a concert given by Mme. Le 
Brun, most of the guests came in with looks of 
consternation. They had been driving earlier in 
the day to Longchamps, and as they passed the 
harriere de I'Etoile, a furious mob had surrounded 
and insulted everybody who passed in carriages. 
Villainous looking faces pressed close to them, 
horrible figures climbed on to the steps of the 
carriages, crying out, with infamous threats and 
brutal language, that next year they should be in 
the carriages and the owners behind them. 

The continual terror in which she now lived 
began to affect the health of Lisette. She knew 
perfectly well that she herself was looked upon 
with sinister eyes by the ruffians, whose blood- 
thirsty hands would soon hold supreme power in 
France. Her house in the rue Gros-Chenet, in 
which she had only lived for three months, was 
already marked ; sulphur was thrown down the 
grating into the cellars ; if she looked out of the 
windows she saw menacing figures of sans-culoties, 
shaking their fists at the house. 

If she had not got away in time there can be no 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 83 

doubt as to what would have been her fate ; for- 
tunately her fears made her act with prudence. M. 
Brongniart, the architect, and his wife, friends of 
hers, seeing her so pale and altered, persuaded 
her to go and stay with them for a few days at 
the Invalides, where they had rooms ; she gladly 
accepted and was taken there by a doctor attached 
to the Palais Royal, whose servants wore the 
Orleans livery, the only one that was now 
respected, and in whose carriage she conse- 
quently arrived safely. Her kind friends nursed 
and tried to comfort her ; made her take Bordeaux 
and soup as she could eat nothing, and tried to 
reassure her, being amongst those who did not 
believe in the perils to come. It was no use. 
When they went out they heard the threats and 
violent talk of the mob, and the discussions they 
held with each other ; by no means calculated to 
give comfort to those who were listening. 

Mme. Le Brun returned home, but dared not 
stay there, so she accepted the invitation of her 
brother's father-in-law, M. de Riviere, in whose 
house she thought she would be safe, as he was 
a foreign minister. She stayed there a fortnight, 
treated as if she were a daughter of the house, but 
she had resolved to get out of France before it was 
too late. 

It would in fact have been folly to stay any 
longer ; already the mob had set fire to the barrier e 
at the end of the rue Chaussee-d' Antin, where M. 
de Riviere lived, and had begun to tear up the pave- 
ment and make barricades in the streets. Many 
people disapproved of emigrating, some from patriotic 



84 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

reasons, others as a matter of interest. To many 
it was of course a choice between the certainty of 
losing their property and the chance of losing their 
lives ; and rather than become beggars they took 
the risk and stayed, very often to the destruction of 
themselves and those dearest to them. To Lisette 
there was no such alternative. Wherever she went 
she could always provide herself with money with- 
out the least difficulty ; she had always longed to 
see Rome, now was the time. 

She had numbers of orders, and of portraits half 
finished, but she was too _iervous and agitated to 
paint, and she had a hundred louis which some one 
had just paid for a picture — to herself fortunately, 
not to M. Le Brun, who generally took everything, 
sometimes never even telling her it had been paid, 
at other times saying he must have the whole sum 
for an investment, or to pay a bill owing. 

This hundred louts would take her to Rome with 
her child and nurse, and she began in haste to pack 
up and prepare for the journey. 

It was the evening before the day fixed for their 
departure, the passport was ready, her travelling 
carriage loaded with luggage, and she was resting 
herself in her drawing-room, when a dreadful noise 
was heard in the house, as of a crowd bursting in ; 
trampling of feet on the stairs, rough voices ; and as 
she remained petrified with fear the door of the 
room was flung open and a throng of ruffianly- 
looking gardes nationaux with guns in their hands, 
many of them drunk, forced their way in, and 
several of them approaching her, declared in coarse, 
insolent terms, that she should not go. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 85 

In reply to her observation that she had a perfect 
right to go where she chose, they kept repeating — 

" Vous ne partisez pas, citoyenne, vous ne partisez 
pas." 

At last they went away, but in a few moments two 
of them whose appearance was different from the 
rest returned and said — 

" Madame, we are your neighbours ; we have 
come back to advise you to go, and to start as soon 
as possible. You cannot live here, you are so 
changed that we are sorry. But do not travel in 
your carriage ; go by the diligence, it is safer." 

Lisette thanked the friendly gardes with all her 
heart, and followed their advice. She sent to take 
three places in the diligence, but there were none 
to be had for a fortnight, as so many people who 
were emigrating travelled by it for greater safety. 

Those of her friends who were Radicals blamed 
Lisette for going, and tried to dissuade her. Mme. 
Filleul, formerly Mile. Boquet, said to her — 

" You are quite wrong to go. I shall stay, for I 
believe in the happiness the Revolution will bring us." 

She remained at La Muette until the Terror began. 
Mme. Chalgrin, of whom she was an intimate friend, 
came there to celebrate very quietly the marriage of 
her daughter. The day after it, both Mme. Chalgrin 
and Mme. Filleul were arrested by the revolutionists 
and guillotined a few days later, because they were 
said to have " burnt the candles of the nation." 

Lisette paid no attention to the dissuasions of her 
friends ; in spite of all they said she knew quite 
well that she was in danger. No one could be safe, 
however innocent, if any suspicion or grudge against 



86 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

them was in the minds of the ruffians who were 
thirsting for blood. 

"Although, thank Heaven, I have never done 
harm to anybody," she said. " I agree with the 
man who said : ' They accuse me of having stolen 
the towers of Notre Dame ; they are still in their 
place, but I am going, for it is clear that they have a 
grudge against me.' " 

" What is the use of taking care of one's health ? " 
she would say when her friends were anxious about 
her. " What is the good of living ? " 

It was not until the 5th of October that the places 
in the diligence could be had, and on the evening of 
the 4th Lisette went to say goodbye to her mother, 
whom she had not seen for three weeks, and who at 
first did not recognise her, so much had she changed 
in that short time and so ill did she look. 

They were to start at midnight, and it was quite 
time they did so. 

That very day the King, Queen, and royal family 
were brought from Versailles to Paris by the frantic, 
howling mob. Louis Vigee, after witnessing their 
arrival at the Hotel de Ville, came at ten o'clock to 
see his sister off, and give her the account of what 
had happened. 

" Never," he said, " was the Queen more truly a 
Queen than to-day, when she made her entry with so 
calm and noble an air in the midst of those furies." 

It was then she made her well-known answer to 
Bailly, " y'ai tout vu, tout su, et tout oublie." 

Half beside herself with anxiety and fear for 
the fate of the royal family and of all respectable 
people, Lisette, her child, and the nurse or nursery 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 87 

governess went to the diligence at midnight, escorted 
by M. Le Brun, Louis Vigee, and M. Robert, the 
landscape painter, an intimate friend of theirs, who 
never left the diligence, but kept close to its doors 
as it lumbered along through the narrow dark streets 
to the harriere du Trone. For the terrible faubourg 
Saint Antoine had to be passed through, and Lisette 
was dreadfully afraid of it. 

However, it happened on that night to be un- 
usually quiet, for the inhabitants had been to 
Versailles after the King and Queen, and were so 
tired that they were asleep. 

At the barrier came the parting with those she 
was leaving in the midst of perils. When they 
would meet again, if they ever did at all, it was 
impossible to guess. 

The journey was insupportable. In the diligence 
with them was a dirty, evil-looking man, who openly 
confessed that he was a robber, boasting of the 
watches, &c., that he had stolen, and speaking of 
many persons he wished to murder a la lanterne, 
amongst whom were a number of the acquaintances 
of Mme. Le Brun. The little girl, now five or six 
years old, was frightened out of her wits, and her 
mother took courage to ask the man not to talk 
about murders before the child. 

He stopped, and afterwards began to play with 
her ; but another Jacobin from Grenoble, also a 
passenger, gave vent to all kinds of infamous and 
murderous threats and opinions, haranguing the 
people who collected round the diligence whenever 
they stopped for dinner or supper ; whilst every 
now and then men rode up to the diligence. 



88 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

announcing that the King and Queen had been 
assassinated, and that Paris was in flames. Lisette, 
terrified herself for the fate of those dear to her, 
tried to comfort her still more frightened child, 
who was crying and trembling, believing that her 
father was killed and their house burnt. At last 
they arrived safely at Lyon, and found their way 
to the house of a M. Artaut, whom Lisette did not 
know well. But she had entertained him and his 
wife in Paris on one or two occasions, she knew 
that their opinions were like her own, and thought 
they were worthy people, as indeed they proved 
to be. 

They did not know her at first, for besides her 
altered looks she was dressed as an ouvriere, having 
just exhibited in the Salon her portrait which she 
had painted with her child in her arms, and fearing 
she might be recognised. 

They spent three days in the Artaut family, 
thankful for the rest, the quietness and the kind- 
ness they received. M. Artaut engaged a man he 
knew to take them on their journey, telling him 
that they were relations of his, and recommending 
them to his care. They set off accordingly, and, 
this journey was indeed a contrast to the last. 
Their driver took the greatest care of them, and 
they arrived in safety at the bridge of Beauvoisin, 
the frontier of France. 

Never, would Mme. Le Brun say in after years, 
could she forget or describe the feelings with which 
she drove across that bridge to find herself at the 
other side — safe, free, and out of France. 

Henceforth the journey was a pleasure, and with 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 89 

feelings of admiration and awe she gazed upon the 
magnificent scenery as she ascended the mighty 
Mont Cenis ; stupendous mountains rising above 
her, their snowy peaks buried in clouds, their steep 
sides hung with pine forests, the roar of falling 
torrents perpetually in her ears. 

" Madame should take a mule," said a postillion 
coming up to her, as she walked slowly up the 
precipitous mountain path. " It is much too tiring 
for a lady like Madame to go up on foot." 

" I am an ouvriere," she replied, " and am accus- 
tomed to walk." 

The man laughed. 

" Ah I " he said, " Madame is no ouvriere ; it is 
very well known who she is." 

"Well, who am I, then?" 

" You are Mme. Le Brun, who paints with such 
perfection, and we are all very glad to know that 
you are far away from those wicked people." 

" I could never guess," said Lisette, " how the 
man knew me. But this proved the number of 
spies the Jacobins had everywhere. However, I 
was not afraid of them now ; I was out of their 
execrable power. If I had no longer my own 
country, I was going to live where art flourished 
and urbanity reigned — I was going to Rome, Naples, 
Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg." 



CHAPTER VII 

Turin — Parma— The Infanta — Florence — Rome : Delightful life 
there — Artistic success — Social life — The French refugees — 
The Polignac — Angelica Kaufman — An Italian summer — Life 
at Gensan — The Duchesse de Fleury. 

PASSING through Chambery, the little party 
arrived at Turin in pouring rain, and were 
deposited late at night in a bad inn, where they 
could get nothing to eat ; but the next day the 
celebrated engraver, Porporati, insisted on their 
removing to his house, where they spent five or 
six days. At the Opera they saw the Due de 
Bourbon and his son, the unfortunate Due 
d'Enghien, whose murder was the blackest stain 
upon the fame of Napoleon. The Due de Bourbon 
looked more like the brother than the father of his 
son ; he was only sixteen when the Due d'Enghien 
was born. 

Taking leave of the excellent Signor Porporati 
and his daughter, they proceeded to Parma, where 
the Comte de Flavigny, Minister of Louis XVI., at 
once called upon Mme. Le Brun, and in his society 
and that of the Countess she saw everything at 
Parma. It was her first experience of an ancient, 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 91 

thoroughly Italian city, for Turin cannot be con- 
sidered either characteristic or interesting. 

But the pictures and churches filled Lisette with 
delight, especially the masterpieces of Correggio, 
the glory of Parma. 

In the huge mediaeval palace the Infanta, sister 
of Marie Antoinette, held her court, and to her 
Mme. Le Brun was presented by M. de Flavigny. 

Much older than the unfortunate Queen of 
France, and possessing neither her beauty nor 
charm, Mme. Le Brun did not take a fancy to 
her, although she received her very well. She 
was a strange person, with masculine manners 
and habits ; her great pleasure apparently was 
riding. Very pale and thin, wearing deep mourn- 
ing for her brother, the Emperor Joseph II., even 
her rooms being hung with black, she gave the 
impression almost of a spectre or a shadow. 

After a few days at Parma, Lisette went on to 
Modena, Bologna, and Florence, under the escort 
of the Vicomte de Lespigniere, a friend of M. de 
Flavigny, whose carriage kept close behind her 
own. As M. de Lespigniere was going all the 
way to Rome — a journey not very safe for a 
woman with only a governess and child — this 
was an excellent arrangement ; and they journeyed 
on pleasantly enough through Italy ; the calm, 
sunny days, the enchanting scenes through which 
they passed, the treasures of art continually 
lavished around them, the light-hearted courtesy 
of the lower classes, the careless enjoyment and 
security of their present surroundings, contrasting 
strangely with the insolence and discomfort, the 



92 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

discontent and bitterness, the gloom and terror 
from which they had so recently escaped. 

They lingered for a while at Florence, unable 
to tear themselves away from that enchanting city, 
with its marvellous wealth of art and that beauty 
of its own, of walls and towers and palaces and 
ancient streets then undestroyed. 

The long galleries of pictures and statues, the 
lovely churches filled with gems of art, the stately 
palaces and gardens, the cypress-crowned heights 
of San Miniato, and the whole life there, were 
enchanting to Lisette. She had been made a 
member of the Academy at Bologna ; she was 
received with great honour at Florence, where 
she was asked to present her portrait to the city. 
She painted it in Rome, and it now hangs in the 
Sala of the great artists in the Uffizi. In the 
evening she drove along the banks of the Arno — 
the fashionable promenade, with the Marchesa 
Venturi, a Frenchwoman married to an Italian, 
whose acquaintance she had made. Had it not 
been for her anxiety about what was going on in 
France she would have been perfectly happy, for 
Italy had been the dream of her life, which was 
now being realised. 

With reluctance she left Florence, but after all 
her supreme desire was Rome, and when at length 
in the distance across the plain over which they 
were travelling, the dome of St. Peter's rose before 
them, she could hardly believe she was not dream- 
ing, and that Rome lay there. Through the Porta 
del Popolo, across the piazza, down the Corso, 
and up to the entrance of the French Academy 
they drove, and the long journey was finished. 




IL PONTE VECCHIO. FLORENCE 



To face /'it.Q'e g2 



. -IS 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 93 

M. Menageot, the Director, came out to the 
carriage, offered her a little apartment for herself, 
her child, and governess, and lent her ten louis, 
for she had not enough left to pay her travelling 
expenses. Then having installed her in her rooms, 
he went with h- to St. Peter's. 

The next day, just as she was starting for the 
Vatican Museum, the students of the Academy 
came to visit her, bringing her the palette of 
Drouais, a talented young painter whom she had 
known in Paris, and who had lately died. He 
had dined with her the evening before he started 
for Rome, and she was much touched at the 
recollection of him and at the request of the lads 
that she would give them some old brushes she 
had used. 

It was necessary in the next place to look for a 
permanent abode, and this seemed to be difficult. 
The apartment in the French Academy was too 
small, though every one who knows Rome will 
understand what a temptation its magnificent 
situation must have been to stay there. 

So she took rooms in the Piazza di Spagna, 
which is, of course, one of the most convenient 
and animated situations in Rome ; but the noise, 
which never seems to inconvenience Italians, was 
insupportable to her. Carriages and carts, groups 
of people singing choruses, lovely in themselves, 
but distracting when they went on all night, made 
sleep impossible, and drove her to another dwelling, a 
small house in a quiet street which took her fancy. 
The whole house was so charming that, with her 
usual carelessness about money, she hastened to pay 



94 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

the ten or twelve louts for the month's rent, and 
took possession. She went to bed rejoicing in the 
silence, only broken by the splash of a fountain in 
the little courtyard ; but in the middle of the night 
a horrible noise began which woke them all up and 
prevented any more sleep till the morning, when the 
landlady explained that there was a pump fastened 
to the wall outside, which was constantly being used 
by the washerwomen, who, as it was too hot to 
work in the day, began the washing at two o'clock 
in the morning. Accordingly Mme. Le Brun 
removed into a small palace, which she found damp 
and cold, as it had been uninhabited for nine years ; 
it was also infested by armies of rats. She stayed 
there six weeks and then moved, this time on 
condition of sleeping one night in the house 
before paying the rent ; but the beams of the 
ceilings were full of little worms, which gnawed 
all night long and made such a noise that she 
declared she could not sleep, and left the next 
day. 

At last, in spite of her being unlucky or 
fanciful, or both, she succeeded in finding a 
dwelling-place, and as directly she arrived, visits 
and commissions began to pour upon her, she 
soon had plenty of money and plenty of society. 

One of her first portraits was that of the Polish 
Countess Potocka who came with the Count, and 
directly he had gone away said to Mme. Le 
Brun : " Thai my third husband, but I think 

I am going to ( . the first back again ; he suits 
me better, thougi. le is a drunkard." 

Lisette now seti.Vj'^down into that Roman life 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 95 

which in those days was the most enchanting 
that could be imagined. M. Le Brun being 
no longer able to take possesion of her money, 
she had enough for everything she wanted, and 
in fact during the years of her Italian career she 
sent him 1,000 ecus in reply to a piteous letter, 
pleading poverty ; and the same sum to her 
mother. 

She had only to choose amongst the great 
personages who wanted their portraits painted ; 
and she spent the time when she was not working 
in wandering amid the scenes to visit which had 
been the dream of her life. Ruins of temples, 
baths, acqueducts, tombs, and monuments of the 
vanished Empire, gorgeous churches and palaces of 
the Renaissance, huge never-ending galleries of 
statues and pictures, the glories of Greek and of 
mediaeval art ; Phidias and Praxiteles, Raffaelle, 
Michael Angelo, and Lionardo ; the picturesque 
beauty of Rome, as it was then, the delicious 
gardens, since swept away by the greedy vandalism 
of their owners ; the mighty Colosseum ; the solemn 
desolate Campagna ; all filled her mind and imagi- 
nation and distracted her thoughts from France 
and the horrors going on there. At Rome in those 
days there certainly seemed to be everything that 
could be wished for to make life a paradise upon 
earth. Besides the natural beauty, the historical 
and archaeological interest, and the treasures 
of art, the magnificence of thf' icclesiastical 
functions, church services, stately^-- iessions, and 
entrancing music were a perpetua ;delight to her. 
"There is no city in the wor' she wrote to a 



96 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

friend, "in which one could pass one's time so 
deliciously as in Rome, even if one were deprived 
of all the resources of good society." 

Among the new friends she found most interest- 
ing was Angelica Kaufmann, who lived in Rome, 
and whose acquaintance she had long desired to 
make. That distinguished artist was then about 
fifty years old ; her health had suffered from 
the troubles caused by her unfortunate marriage 
with an adventurer who had ruined her earlier 
years. She was now the wife of an architect, whom 
Lisette pronounced to be like her homme d'affaires. 
Sympathetic, gentle, and highly cultivated, Lisette 
found her conversation extremely interesting, 
although the calmness and absence of enthusiasm 
in her character contrasted strongly with her own 
ardent, imaginative nature. She showed her 
several both of her finished pictures and sketches, 
of which Lisette preferred the latter, the colour 
being richer and more forcible. 

Mme. Le Brun painted the portraits and went 
to the parties of the chief Roman families, but did 
not form many intimate friendships amongst them, 
for most of her spare time was spent with the 
unfortunate refugees from France, of whom there 
were numbers in Rome during the years she lived 
there. Many of them were her friends who had, 
like herself, managed to escape. Amongst these 
were the Duke and Duchess de Fitz-James and 
their son, also the Polignac family, with whom 
Mme. Le Brun refrained out of prudence from 
being too much seen, lest reports should reach 
France that she was plotting with them against 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 97 

the Revolution. For although she was out of 
the clutches of the Radicals and Revolutionists her 
relations were still within their reach, and might be 
made to suffer for her. 

However they were none of them in the same 
danger that she would have been had she remained 
at Paris. None of them were at all conspicuous, 
and as far as any one could be said to be tolerably v 
safe in France under the new reign of Liberty, "^ 
Equality, and Fraternity, they might be supposed 
to be so. 

Amongst others who arrived were the Duchesse 
de Fleury and Princesse Joseph de Monaco. The 
latter was a gentle, charming woman, whose devo- 
tion to her children was the cause of her death. 
After having escaped from France and arrived 
safely in Rome, she was actually foolish enough 
to go back to Paris with the idea of saving the 
remains of her fortune for her children. The 
Terror was in full force ; she was arrested and 
condemned. Those who wished to save her 
entreated her to declare herself enceinte, by which 
many women had been spared. She would any- 
how have gained a reprieve, and as it happened her 
life would have been saved, as the ninth Thermidor 
was rapidly approaching. But her husband was 
far away, and she indignantly refused, preferring 
death to such an alternative. 

Quite another sort of woman was the Duchesse 
de Fleury, with whom Lisette formed an intimate 
friendship. The Duchess, nee Aimee de Coigny, 
was a true type of the women of a certain set at 
the old French court, and her history was one 



98 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

only possible just at the time in which it took 
place. 

Beautiful, both in face and form, imaginative, 
brilliant, and fascinating ; with charming manners 
and lax morality, her passionate love of art and 
natural beauty attracted her to Lisette, who found 
in her the companion she had long wished for. 

They spent their evenings at the Maltese embassy, 
where the soirees of the Ambassador, Prince Camilla 
de Rohan, Grand Commander of the Order of 
St. John of Jerusalem, were frequented by all the 
most intellectual and distinguished people in Rome. 
They made excursions to all the enchanting places 
within reach — Tivoli, Tusculum, Monte Mario, the 
Villa Adriano, and many another ancient palace or 
imposing ruin ; and when the hot weather made 
Rome insupportable, they took a house together at 
Gensano, and spent the rest of the summer in those 
delicious woods. They hired three donkeys to 
make excursions, and took possession with delight 
of the ancient villa which had belonged to Carlo 
Maratta, some of whose sketches might still be seen 
on the walls of one of its great halls. 

All that country, Frascati, L'Ariccia, Castel 
Gandolfo, Albano, Gensano, is a dream of beauty 
and romance. Lakes, mountains, and forests, 
picturesque towns and villages perched high upon 
the steep sides of precipices, rocks crowned with 
ruined towers or convents, ancient villas like huge 
palaces, with colonnades, fountains, and loggie, 
buried among deep woods of ilex and chestnut, in 
whose cool shade they could spend the bright, hot, 
glowing days. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 99 

In the evenings they rode or walked, watching 
the gorgeous sunset and afterglow ; and in those 
radiant Italian nights, when the whole country 
lay white and brilliant under the light of the 
southern moon, they would wander through the 
woods glittering with glow-worms and fireflies, or 
perhaps by the shores of Lake Nemi, buried 
deep amongst wooded cliffs, a temple of Diana 
rising out of its waters. 

The Duchesse de Fleury, who had attached 
herself with such enthusiastic affection to Mme. 
Le Brun, was scarcely sixteen, although in mind, 
character, and experience she was far older than 
her years. 

Her mother having died in her early life, she was 
brought up by her father, the Comte de Coigny, at 
his clidteau at Mareuil, an enormous place built 
by the celebrated Duchesse d'Angouleme (whose 
husband was the last of the Valois, though with 
the bend sinister), who died in 1713, and yet was 
the daughter-in-law of Charles IX., who died 

1574-^ 
Married when a mere child to the Due de Fleury, 

great-nephew of the Cardinal, there was no sort of 

affection between her husband and herself, each 

went their own way, and they were scarcely ever 

in each other's society. He had also emigrated, 

but he was not in Rome, and Mme. Le Brun, who 

was very fond of her, foresaw with anxiety and 

' Charles de Valois, Due d'Angouleme, Comte d'Auvergne et 
Ponthieu, son of Charles IX. and Marie Touchet, b. 1572, m. 1644 
second wife, Fran^oise de Mareuil, — " Early Valois Queens," p. 6 
(Bearne). " Crequy Souvenirs." 

tofa 



loo HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

misgiving the dangers and difficulties which were 
certain to beset one so young, so lovely, so attrac- 
tive, and so unprotected, with no one to guide 
or influence her. Full of romance and passion, 
surrounded with admiration and temptation, she 
was already carrying on a correspondence, which 
could not be anything but dangerous, with the 
Due de Lanzun, a handsome, fascinating roue, who 
had not quitted France, and was afterwards 
guillotined. 

It is difficult to understand how anybody who 
had escaped from France at that time should have 
chosen to go back there, except to save or help 
somebody dear to them. 

As Mme. Le Brun remarked in her own case : 
" It is no longer a question of fortune or success, it 
is only a question of saving one's life," but many 
people were rash enough to think and act otherwise, 
and frequently paid dearly for their folly. Mme. de 
Fleury returned to Paris while, or just before, the 
Terror was raging, and availed herself of the revolu- 
tionary law, by which a husband or wife who had 
emigrated might be divorced. But soon after she 
had dissolved her marriage and resumed the name 
of Coigny she was arrested and sent to St. Lazare, 
one of the most terrible of the prisons of the 
Revolution, then crowded with people of all ages, 
ranks, and opinions. 

Aim^e de Coigny was no saint or heroine, like 
the Noailles, La Rochejaquelein, and countless 
others, whose ardent faith and steadfast devotion 
raised them above the horrors of their surroundings, 
and carried them triumphantly through danger, 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN loi 

suffering, and death to the life beyond, upon 
which their hearts were fixed ; nor yet a repub- 
hcan enthusiast roughly awakened from dreams 
of " humanity," " universal brotherhood," and 
"liberty" under the rule of "The People," whose 
way of carrying out these principles was so sur- 
prising. 

Neither had she the anxiety and care for others 
which made heroes and heroines of so many in 
those awful times. She had no children, and the 
only person belonging to her — her father — had 
emigrated. She was simply a girl of eighteen 
suddenly snatched from a life of luxury and 
enjoyment, and shrinking with terror from the 
horrors around and the fate before her. Amongst 
her fellow-prisoners was Andre Ch^nier, the repub- 
lican poet, who was soon to suffer death at the 
hands of those in whom his fantastic dreams had 
seen the regenerators of mankind. He expressed 
his love and admiration for her in a poem called 
"La jeune Captive," of which the following are 
the first lines : — 

" Est-ce a moi de mourir ? Tranquille je m'endors, 
Et tranquille je veille, et ma veille aux remords, 
Ni mon sommeil ne sont en proie. 
Ma bienvenue au jour me rit dans tons las yeux ; 
Sur des fronts abattus, mon aspect dans ces lieux 
Ramene presque de la joie. 

Mon beau voyage encore est si loin de sa fin ; 
Je pars, et des ormeaux qui bordent le chemin, 
J'ai passe les premiers a peine. 
Au banquet de la vie a peine commence 
Un instant seulement mes levres ont presse 
La coupe en mes mains encore pleine. 



I02 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Je ne suis qu'au printemps, je veux voir la moisson 

Et comme le soleil, de saison en saison, 

Je veux achever mon annee. 

Brilliante sur ma tige, et honneur du jardin, 

Je n'ai vu luire encor que les feux du matin ; 

Je veux achever ma journee." 



Another of her fellow-prisoners, equally fascinated 
by her and able to render her more practical service, 
was M. de Montrond, a witty, light-hearted sceptic, 
a friend of Talleyrand. 

It having come to his knowledge that a plot was 
preparing for another massacre in the prisons on 
pretence of conspiracy among the prisoners, whose 
names and lives were at the mercy of the spies 
within and the police and gaolers without, he 
contrived by paying a hundred louis to get his 
own and Mme. de Coigny's liberation, and after 
the Terror was over they married and went to 
England for their honeymoon. At the end of 
two months they were tired of each other, 
came back to Paris and were divorced, and the 
Baronne de Montrond again resumed the name of 
Coigny. 

When the Restoration took place and her father 
returned she devoted herself to him during the 
rest of his life ; and as her first husband returned 
too and had an appointment in the household of 
Louis XVIII., she was always liable to meet him 
as well as her second husband in society. 

In spite of all her social success hers was not 
a disposition to be happy. She was too excite- 
able, emotional, and unreasonable. A liaison with 
a brother of Garat brought her much unhappiness, 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 103 

and her unfortunate marriages and love affairs 
caused the Emperor Napoleon to say to her one 
day at some court entertainment — 

"Aimez vous toujours les hommes ?" 

To which she replied — 

" Oui, Sire, quand ils sont polis." 

Her last and only constant love affair was with 
the poet Lemercier, whose devotion never changed 
until her death in 1820, when she was forty-two 
years of age. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Naples — Lady Hamilton — Marie Caroline, Queen of Naples — 
Mesdames de France — Their escape — Les chemises de Marat — 
Rome — Terrible news from France — Venice — Turin — The 
Comtesse de Provence — The loth August — The Refugees — 
Milan — Vienna — Delightful society — Prince von Kaunitz — 
Life at Vienna. 

IN the autumn of 1790 Lisette went to Naples, 
with which she was enchanted. She took a 
house on the Chiaja, looking across the bay to 
Capri and close to the Russian Embassy. The Am- 
bassador, Count Scawronski, called immediately and 
begged her to breakfast and dine always at his 
house, where, although not accepting this invita- 
tion, she spent nearly all her evenings. She painted 
his wife, and, after her, Emma Harte, then the 
mistress of Sir William Hamilton, as a bacchante, 
lying on the sea-shore with her splendid chestnut 
hair falling loosely about her in masses sufficient to 
cover her. Sir William Hamilton, who was exceed- 
ingly avaricious, paid her a hundred louis for the 
picture, and afterwards sold it in London for three 
hundred guineas. Later on, Mme. Le Brun, having 
painted her as a Sybil for the Due de Brissac after 
she became Lady Hamilton, copied the head and 

gave it to Sir William, who sold that also ! 

104 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 105 

Another time she made a charcoal sketch of two 
heads on the door of a summer-house by the sea, 
lent to her by Sir William Hamilton. Years after- 
wards to her astonishment she saw them in England. 
He had cut them out of the door and sold them to 
Lord Warwick ! 

Mme. Le Brun found Lady Hamilton, as she 
became shortly afterwards — though extraordinarily 
beautiful — ignorant, ill-dressed, without esprit or 
conversation, ill-natured, and spiteful in her way 
of talking about other people, the only topic she 
seemed capable of discussing. She herself enjoyed 
Naples, as she did every other pleasant episode in 
her delightful life. From the loggia opening out of 
her bedroom she looked down into an orange 
garden ; from her windows she could see con- 
stantly some picturesque or beautiful scene. The 
costumes of the washerwomen who gathered round 
the fountain, peasant girls dancing the tarantella, 
the fiery torches of the fishermen scattered over the 
bay at night, all the life and colour and incident 
of southern life spread like a panorama before her ; 
and often she would go out in a boat by moonlight 
or starlight upon the calm sea, looking back upon 
the town rising like an amphitheatre from the 
water's edge. 

She found as usual plenty of friends, the Princesse 
Joseph de Monaco and Duchesse de Fleury amongst 
others, and the Baron de Talleyrand, then French 
Ambassador. They made excursions to Vesuvius, 
Porapei, Capri, Ischia, and all the lovely places in 
the neighbourhood. 

One day the Baron de Talleyrand announced that 



io6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

the Queen wished her to paint the portraits of her 
two eldest daughters, whose marriages she was just 
going to Vienna to arrange.^ 

Lisette hked the Queen of Naples much better 
than her elder sister, the Infanta of Parma. Though 
less beautiful than her younger sister, Marie 
Antoinette, yet she bore a strong resemblance to 
her, and had the remains of great beauty. 

Mme. Le Brun describes her as affectionate, 
simple, and royally generous. Hearing that the 
French Ambassador to Venice, M. de Bombelle, was 
the only one who refused to sign the Constitution, 
thereby reducing himself and his family to poverty ; 
she wrote to him that all sovereigns owed a debt of 
gratitude to faithful subjects, and gave him a pension 
of twelve thousand francs. Two of his sons became 
Austrian ministers at Turin and Berne, another 
was Grand-Master of the household of Marie 
Louise. 

The most infamous calumnies were circulated 
about Marie Caroline when Napoleon wanted her 
kingdom for Caroline Murat ; but she had a brave, 
strong character and plenty of brains. The govern- 
ment was carried on by her, for the King could or 
would do nothing but loiter about at Caserta. 

Lisette painted the two Princesses and the Prince 
Royal before returning to Rome, where she had no 
sooner arrived than she had to go back to Naples 
to paint the Queen. 

She had had great success in the number of 
important pictures she painted at Naples ; and her 

' The eldest married the Emperor Francis II., the second the 
Grand Duke of Tuscany. 




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MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 107 

career at Rome was equally prosperous. She had 
plenty of money now, and nobody to meddle with 
it, and if it had not been for the constant anxiety 
about France she would have been perfectly happy. 
But French news was difficult to get and bad when 
it was obtained. 

Mesdames de France, the two last remaining 
daughters of Louis XV., arrived in Rome and at 
once sent for Mme. Le Brun, who was delighted to 
see them again. They had with great difficulty 
succeeded in getting away, and had been most 
anxious to take their niece, Madame Elizabeth, with 
them. In vain they entreated her to come, she 
persisted in staying with the King and Queen, and 
sacrificed her life in so doing. 

Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire set off early in 
1 79 1. Their whole journey was a perpetual danger. 
After getting their passports signed with difficulty 
by the Commune, they were denounced at Sevres 
by a maid-servant, stopped by the Jacobins and 
accused of being concerned in plots and of taking 
money out of the country, and defamed for a fort- 
night, when they managed to get permission to go 
on, and left at 10 o'clock on a Saturday night, 
arriving on Sunday morning at Fontainebleau, 
where they were again stopped and threatened by 
the mob, who were just going to be joined by the 
gardes naiionaux when a hundred Chasseurs de 
Lorraine, luckily quartered there, charged the mob, 
opened the gates, and passed the carriages on. At 
Arnay-le-Duc they were detained for eleven days, 
and only allowed to proceed when the Comte de 
Narbonne appeared with a permission extorted by 



io8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Mirabeau from the revolutionary government at 
Paris. 

They hurried away just in time, crossed the 
Mont Cenis, which was covered with snow, and 
at the foot of which they were met by their nephew, 
the Comte d'Artois. The King of Sardinia, husband 
of their niece,i the eldest sister of Louis XVI. had 
sent four hundred soldiers to clear away the snow, 
and escorted by the Comte d'Artois they arrived 
safely at Turin where all the noblesse were assembled 
to receive them at the entrance of the royal palace. 
They arrived at Rome in April. 

The disgraceful proceedings and cowardly, pre- 
posterous fear of two old ladies, which had made 
the radical government contemptible and ridiculous, 
caused the following absurd story to be published 
in a French newspaper : — 

" Les chemises de Marat, ou I'arrestation de 
Mesdames, tantes du Roi a Arnay-le-Duc. 

" Marat avait dit dans un journal que les chemises 
de Mesdames lui appartenaient. Les patriotes de 
province crurent de bonne foi que Mesdames 
avaient emporte les chemises de Marat, et les 
habitants d'Arnay-ci-devant-le-duc sachant qu'elles 
devaient passer par la, deciderent qu'il fallait les 
arreter pour leur, faire rendre les chemises qu'elles 
avaient volees. . . . On les fait descendre de 
voiture et les officiers municipales avec leurs habits 
noirs, leur gravite, leurs echarpes, leur civism et 
leurs perruques, disent a Mesdames ; 



Madame Clotilde, eldest daughter of the Dauphin, son of 
Louis XV., married the King of Sardinia. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 109 

"(Air: ' Rendez-moi mon ecuelle de bois.') 

" Donnez-nous les chemises 
A Marat, 
Donnez-nous les chemises ; 
Nous Savons a n'en douter pas 
Que vous les avez prises. 

*' Mme. Adelaide, 6tonn6e d'un tel propos r^pond 
sur le meme air : 



"Je n'ai point les chemises 
De Marat, 
Je n'ai point les chemises ; 
Cherchez, Messieurs les magistrats 
Cherchez dans nos valises. 



" Mme. Victoire dit a son tour : 

" Avait-il des chemises, 
Marat ? 
Avait il des chemises ? 
Moi, je crois qu'il n'en avait pas, 
Ou les aurait-il prises ? 

" MM. les magistrats, connaissant de reputation 
les chemises de I'ecrivain, r^pondent avec une gravity 
toute municipale : 

" II en avait trois grises 
Marat, 
II en avait trois grises, 
Avec I'argent de son fatras 
Sur le Pont Neuf acquises. 

" La municipality se met alors en devoir de fouiller 
dans les malles de Mesdames, en disant : 



no HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

" Cherchons bien les chemises 
A Marat 
Cherchons bien les chemises 
C'est pour vous un fort vilain cas 
Si vous les avez prises. 

" Enfin, ne pouvant pas distinguer, parmi tant de 
chemises lesquelles appartenaient a Marat, et les 
tantes du roi persistant a nier qu'elles eussent, 
derobe celles du grand homme, la municipality 
d'Arnay-ci-devant-le-duc, accorda a Mesdames la 
permission de continuer leur voyage apres les avoir 
retenues prisonnieres I'espace de dix jours." 

Mme. Le Brun painted the portrait first of 
Madame Adelaide, then of Madame Victoire. 

The latter, during her last sitting, said to her — 

" I have received some news which fills me with 
joy ; I hear the King has escaped from France, and 
I have just written to him, only addressing — To His 
Majesty the King of France. They will know very 
well where to find him," she added smiling. 

Mme. Le Brun returned home and told the good 
news to her daughter's governess. But while they 
were rejoicing over it they, in the evening, heard one 
of their servants singing below, a sullen, gloomy 
fellow who never used to sing, and whom they 
knew to be a revolutionist. Looking at each other 
in terror they exclaimed — 

" Some misfortune has happened to the King." 

Next morning they heard of the arrest of the royal 
family at Varennes. 

Most of the servants were bribed by the Jacobins 
to spy upon their masters, and knew much better 
than they what was going on in France. Many of 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM iii 

them used to go and meet the courrier who told 
them much more than was contained in the letters 
he brought. After having lived two years and a 
half in Italy, chiefly in Rome, Mme. Le Brun 
began to think of returning to France. 

How she could have entertained so mad an idea 
seems inexplicable ; but in fact, bad as the French 
news was, she was far from understanding the 
frightful state of the country. In those days news 
travelled slowly, important events only became 
partially known long after they had taken place ; 
and as to private letters, people dared not put in 
them anything which might endanger either them- 
selves or their friends. 

Her mother, brother, and sister-in-law, to all of 
whom she was strongly attached, were in France, 
and she was anxious to see them ; so, with deep 
regret and many tears, she left Rome and turned 
her steps northward, of course with her child and 
governess. 

They left Rome late in April, 1792, and travelled 
slowly along by Perugia, Florence, Siena, Parma, 
and Mantova to Venice, where they arrived the eve 
of the Ascension, and saw the splendid ceremony of 
the marriage of the Doge and the Adriatic. Thcx-e 
was a magnificent fete in the evening, the battle of 
the gondoliers and illumination of the Piazza di San 
Marco ; where a fair as well as the illumination went 
on for a fortnight. 

Venice was crowded with foreigners, amongst 
whom was one of the English princes ; and Lisette's 
friend, the Princesse Joseph de Monaco, whom she 
saw for the last time, she also being on her way 
to France, where she met her death. 



112 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

She also met an acquaintance, M. Denon, who 
introduced her to the Comtesse Marini, of whom he 
was then the cavaliere servente ; and who at once 
invited her to go that evening to a caf^. 

Lisette, to whom such an invitation was un- 
familiar, accepted however ; and the Countess 
then said — 

" Have you no friend to accompany you ? " 

" I have no one with me," replied she, " but my 
daughter and her governess." 

" Oh, well ! " said the Countess, " you must anj^- 
how appear to have somebody ; I will lend you 
M. Denon all the time you are here ; he will give 
you his arm, I will take somebody else's arm, and 
people will think I have quarrelled with him, for 
you can't go about here without tin ami.^' 

The arrangement proved entirely satisfactory. 
Lisette went about all day with M. Denon, in 
gondolas, and to see everything — churches, pictures, 
palaces ; every one who knows Venice even now, 
knows it as a place of enchantment, unlike anything 
else on earth ; and in those days the Doge still 
reigned, modern desecrations and eyesores were 
not, and the beauty of the life and surroundings 
of the Queen of the Adriatic was supreme. 

Lisette frequented chiefly the society of the 
Spanish Ambassadress, with whom she went to the 
Opera at the far-famed Fenice, and finally left 
Venice and went by Padova, Vicenza, and Verona 
to Turin, where she had letters of introduction from 
Mesdames to the Queen, whose portrait they wished 
her to paint for them. 

In former years, before the marriage of the Queen, 




e^rrn^ 



VENICE 



To face page 112 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 113 

Mme. Le Brun had seen her, as a very young girl, at 
the court of her grandfather, Louis XV., when she 
was so fat that she was called le gros Madame. She 
was now pale and thin, whether from the austerities 
of devotion she now practised, or from her grief at 
the misfortunes of her family and anxiety for her 
sister, Madame Elizabeth, and her eldest brother, 
the King of France. 

She would not have her portrait done, saying that 
she was very sorry to refuse her aunts, but as she 
had renounced the world she could not have her 
picture taken. She had cut her hair short and her 
dress was very simple. The King looked nearly as 
pale and thin. 

They received Mme. Le Brun very kindly, and 
she next went to see the Comtesse de Provence, 
for the second and third brothers, the Counts of 
Provence and Artois, had taken refuge at their 
sister's court. 

The Comtesse de Provence was delighted to see 
Mme. Le Brun again, and arranged various excur- 
sions, which they made together into the mountains, 
in spite of the intense heat, for the summer was at its 
height. After spending some time in Turin, Signor 
Porporati ojffered to lend Mme. Le Brun a farm in 
the country, where he had a few rooms furnished 
for himself, and where he used often to go in hot 
weather. This exactly suited her, for the heat was 
overpowering, her little girl was made quite ill by 
it; and with joyful haste, she, with the governess, 
child, and servants, established themselves amongst 
the meadows, woods, and streams which surrounded 
the farm house. 

9 



114 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

There she rested, spending the days out of doors 
in the cool green country, and looking forward to 
her approaching return to France ; when one 
evening a letter was brought her from M. de 
Riviere, the brother of her sister-in-law, which told 
her of the horrible events of the loth of August, the 
attack on the Tuileries, the imprisonment of the 
Royal Family, the massacres and horrors of all kinds 
still going on. 

Overcome with grief at this terrible news, and 
filled with self-reproach for the peaceful happiness 
of her own life, the solitude of the place became 
insupportable, and she at once returned to Turin. 

Had not this been sufficient to put a stop to all 
idea of going to France, the sights which met them 
as the little party entered Turin would have 
done so. 

The streets and squares were thronged with 
French refugees, who had fled, and were still 
flying, from France. They arrived by thousands, 
men, women, and children of all ranks and ages, 
most of them without luggage, money, or even 
food ; having had no time to take anything with 
them or think of anything but saving their lives. 
The old Duchesse de Villeroi had been supported 
on the journey by her maid, who had enough 
money to get food for ten sous a day. Women, who 
had never been in carts before, were prematurely 
confined on the road, owing to the jolting ; children 
were crying for food, it was a heartrending spectacle. 
The King gave orders that food and lodging should 
be found for them, but there was not room to put 
them all in ; the Comtesse de Provence was having 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM ii5 

food carried about the streets, and Lisette, like the 
rest, gave all the help in her power, going round 
with the equerry of Madame to look for rooms and 
get provisions. 

Seeing a handsome, noble-looking old officer, 
wearing the Cross of St. Louis, leaning against the 
corner of a street, with despair in his face, asking 
for nothing, but evidently faint with hunger, they 
went up and gave him what little money they had 
left, which he took, thanking them with a voice 
broken by sobs. The next morning he and several 
others were' lodged in the King's palace, no other 
rooms being forthcoming. 

The weeks following were terrible for Lisette, the 
anxiety and agitation she was in being increased by 
the non-appearance of M. de Riviere, who had told 
her to expect him at Turin. At last, a fortnight 
later than the day fixed, he arrived, so dreadfully 
changed that she hardly recognised him. As he 
crossed the bridge of Beauvoisin he had seen the 
priests being massacred, and that and all the other 
atrocities he had witnessed had thrown him into a 
fever, which had detained him for some time at 
Chambery. 

With fear and trembling Lisette inquired for her 
relations, but was assured that her mother was well, 
and never left Neuilly, that M. Le Brun was all right 
at Paris, and that her brother and his wife and child 
were safe in hiding. 

Having decided to stop at Turin and wait for 
further news, she took a little house in a vineyard 
near the town. M. de Riviere lodged with her, and 
gradually recovered afnongst the peaceful surround- 



n6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

ings. Even the sight of the honest, quiet, peaceable 
peasants did them good. They walked among the 
vineyards, or in a neighbouring wood, where steep 
paths led to little churches and chapels, in which 
they attended mass on Sundays ; and Lisette resumed 
her work, painting amongst other things a picture, 
" U7ie baigneuse," which she sold at once to a 
Russian prince, and a portrait of his daughter as a 
present to Signor Porporati. 

After a time she went to Milan, where she was 
received with great honour. The first evening she 
was serenaded by all the young men of the chief 
Milanese families, but, not knowing that all this 
music was on her account, she sat listening and 
enjoying it with composure, until her landlady came 
and explained. She made an excursion to the 
lakes, and on her return to Milan decided to go to 
Vienna, seeing that France would be out of the 
question for an indefinite time. 

At a concert in Milan she made the acquaintance 
of the Countess Bistri, a beautiful Pole, who was 
also going to Vienna with her husband. They 
arranged to travel together, and this was the 
beginning of a long and intimate friendship. 

The Count and Countess were kind, excellent 
people, who had just brought with them a poor old 
emigrant priest, and another younger one, whom 
they had picked up on the road after he had 
escaped from the massacre of the bridge of Beau- 
voisin. They had only a carriage with two places, 
but they had put the old man between them and the 
young one behind the carriage, and had taken 
the greatest care of them. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 117 

They travelled from Milan to Vienna through the 
magnificent scenery of Tyrol and Styria, and arrived 
safely at the Austrian capital, where Mme. Le Brun 
spent two years and a half happily and prosperously. 
Every one was eager to invite her to their houses, 
and the numerous portraits she painted made her 
sojourn in Austria as profitable as it was pleasant. 

She brought, of course, many letters of intro- 
duction, of which the first she availed herself was 
to the Countess von Thoum, at whose soir/es she 
met all the most important personages in Vienna, 
and also many French emigres, amongst whom, to 
her great joy, was her old friend the Comte de 
Vaudreuil. 

Never, she afterwards remarked, had she seen so 
many pretty women together as in the salon of 
Mme. de Thoum ; but what surprised her was that 
most of them did needlework sitting round a large 
table all the evening. They would also knit in their 
boxes at the opera ; but it was explained that this 
was for charity. In other respects she found 
society at Vienna very much the same as at Paris 
before the advent of the Revolution. 

Another of her introductions was to Prince von 
Kaunitz, the great Minister of Maria Theresa, whose 
power and influence had been such that he was 
called le cocher de V Europe ; ^ and whose disinterested 
single-minded patriotism was shown in his answer, 
when, having proposed a certain field-marshal as 
president of the council of war, the Empress 
remarked — 

" But that man is your declared enemy." 
' The coachman of Europe. 



Ii8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

" Madame," he replied, " that man is the friend of 
the State, which is the only thing that ought to be 
considered." 

Kaunitz was now eighty-three years old, tall, thin, 
and upright. His great intellect, taste, and judg- 
ment seemed unimpaired, and he prided himself on 
his perfect seat on horseback. In costume and 
appearance he resembled the splendid cavaliers 
of the court of Louis XIV. 

His life at Vienna was that of a grand seigneur 
of the most illustrious order, and on New Year's 
day and on his fete, the crowd that flocked to his 
house to congratulate him was so enormous that he 
might have been supposed to be the Emperor himself. 

He was extremely kind to Mme. Le Brun, 
whom he always called " ma bonne ainie " ; she was 
often at his house, though she did not care for the 
great dinners of never less than thirty people, which 
were always at seven o'clock — in those days 
considered a late hour. 

Lisette, in fact, liked to paint all the morning, 
dine by herself at half-past two, then take a siesta, 
and devote the latter part of the day and evening to 
social engagements. 

Prince von Kaunitz desired that her picture of the 
Sibyl should be exhibited for a fortnight in h\s salon, 
where all the court and town came to see it. Mme. 
Le Brun made also the acquaintance of the celebrated 
painter of battles, Casanova. 

One evening at a dinner-party of Prince von 
Kaunitz, when the conversation turned upon 
painting, some one was speaking of Rubens being 
appointed ambassador. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 119 

An old German baroness exclaimed — 

" What ? A painter ambassador ? Doubtless it 
must have been an ambassador who amused himself 
by painting." 

"No, Madame," replied Casanova, "he was a 
painter who amused himself by being ambassador." 

One of her new friends was the Countess Kinska, 
who, as she observed, was " neither maid, wife, nor 
widow," for she and her husband had been married 
according to their parents' arrangement, without 
ever having seen each other, and after the ceremony 
Count Kinska, turning to her, said — 

" Madame, we have obeyed our parents. I leave 
you with regret, but I cannot conceal from you that 
for a long time I have been devoted to another 
woman. I cannot live without her, and I am going 
back to her." 

So saying, he got into the carriage that was waiting 
at the church door, and she saw no more of him. 

The Countess was extremely pretty, attractive, 
and amiable. One day while she was sitting for 
her portrait, Mme. Le Brun had occasion to send 
for Mme. Charot, her nursery-governess, who came 
in looking so pleased that she asked what had 
happened. 

" I have just had a letter from my husband," she 
said ; " he tells me that they have put me on the list 
of emigres. I shall lose my eight hundred francs 
de rente, but I console myself for that, as there I 
am on the list of respectable people," 

A few minutes later the Countess said that Mme. 
Le Brun's painting blouse was so convenient she 
wished she had one like it ; and in reply to her offer 



I20 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

to lend her one said she would much rather Mme. 
Charot made it, for which she would send the 
linen. When it was finished she gave Mme. Charot 
ten louis. 

M. de Riviere was also at Vienna, and took part 
in all the private theatricals and diversions going on. 

Mme. Le Brun painted a remarkable portrait of 
Mile. Fries, the great banker's daughter, as Sappho, 
she being an excellent musician. Also of the Baron 
and Baroness Strogonoff with whom she became 
very intimate. 

At a State ball she first saw again the Empress, 
Marie Th6rese, daughter of the Queen of Naples^ 
whom she found much changed in appearance. 
She had painted her portrait in 1792. 

She also was overjoyed to meet the Comtesse de 
Brionne, Princesse de Lorraine, one of the earliest 
friends who had shown her unvarying kindness at 
the beginning of her career — and she resumed her 
old habit of going often to supper with her. The 
Polignac, too, had a place near Vienna, in fact, 
wherever she went Lisette met numbers of her 
unfortunate countrymen and acquaintance driven 
into exile, watching in despair the course of events 
in France. 

She scarcely dared read the newspapers, since one 
day on opening one she had seen in the death list 
the names of nine persons of her acquaintance ; 
and all her Austrian friends tried to prevent her 
from hearing or knowing what was going on. A 
letter from her brother, however, brought her the 
fatal news of the murder of the King and Queen. 

She was as happy at Vienna as she could be 



MADAME VIGiE LE BRUM 121 

anywhere under the circumstances. During the 
winter she had the most brilliant society in Europe, 
and for the summer she had taken a little house at 
Schonbrunn, near the Polignac, in a lovely situation, 
to which she always retired when Vienna became 
too hot, and where she took long solitary walks by 
the Danube, or sat and sketched under the trees. 

Here she finished the portrait of the young 
Princess von Lichtenstein, as Iris. As she was 
represented with bare feet, her husband told Mme. 
Le Brun that when it was hung in his gallery, and 
the heads of the family came to see it, they were all 
extremely scandalised, so he had placed a pair of 
little shoes on the ground under it, and told the 
grand-parents they had dropped off. 



CHAPTER IX 

Dresden — St. Petersburg — The Empress Catherine II. — Orloff — 
Potemkin — Russian hospitality — Magnificence of society at 
St. Petersburg — Mme. Le Brun is robbed — Slanders against 
her — The Russian Imperial family — Popularity and success of 
Mme. Le Brun — Death of the Empress Catherine. 

TWO years and a half had passed and Mme. Le 
Brun had no desire to leave Vienna, when 
the Russian Ambassador and several of his com- 
patriots urged her strongly to go to St. Petersburg, 
where they said the Empress Catherine II. would 
be extremely pleased to have her. 

She had a great wish to see this Empress, whose 
strange and commanding personality impressed her, 
besides which she was convinced that in Russia she 
would soon gain enough to complete the fortune 
she had resolved to make before returning to 
France. 

On Sunday, April 19, 1795, therefore, she left 
Vienna and went by Prague to Dresden, where she 
was of course enraptured with the world-famed 
gallery, and above all with the chef d'ceuvre of 
Raffaelle, the Madonna di San Sisto — that vision of 
beauty before which every other seems dim and 
pale. She spent five days at Berlin, stayed a few 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 123 

days more at the castle of her old friend Prince 
Henry of Prussia, and arrived at St. Petersburg late 
in July, very tired and exhausted with the journey 
in an uncomfortable carriage over roads so bad that 
she was jolted and flung about from one great stone 
to another from Riga to St. Petersburg, until her 
only longing was to be quiet and rest. 

But she had not been more than twenty-four 
hours in the Russian capital when the French Am- 
bassador was announced; his visit was succeeded 
by others, and that evening the Empress sent to say 
that she would receive Mme. Le Brun at Czarskoie- 
solo I the next day at one o'clock. 

The French Ambassador, Count d'Esterhazy, said 
that he would come at ten and take her to dejeuner 
with his wife, who was just then living at Czar- 
skoiesolo. For the first time during her wandering 
life from court to court, Lisette felt intimidated, 
and trembled. This was so different from any 
of her former experiences. At every other court 
she had been en pays de connaissance. Austrian 
society was very like Parisian, Rome was the centre 
of Christendom, the sovereigns of the lesser Italian 
states were the near relations of her own King 
and Queen, their religion was the same. 

But here, in this half-barbarous country, at an 
immense distance from everywhere she had ever 
been before, with a different church, a language 
incomprehensible to her and a sovereign mysterious, 
powerful, autocratic, whose reputation was sinister, 
and to whose private character were attached the 
darkest suspicions, an additional uneasiness was 
' So spelt in the " Memoires de Mme. Le Brun." 



124 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

added to her reflections owing entirely to her 
habitual careless absence of mind in not having 
provided himself with a proper toilette for the 
occasion. 

Accustomed all her life to be surrounded by 
friends, to be made much of and allowed to do as 
she liked wherever she went, she had followed her 
own fashion of wearing a certain style of dress, 
artistic, characteristic, but inexpensive. Nobody 
had objected to the simple toilettes of soft muslin, 
gracefully arranged, nor to the scarves and handker- 
chiefs she twisted in her hair. But she became 
suddenly conscious that they were by no means 
suitable to appear before the formidable personage, 
whom she pictured to herself as tall, dark, gloomy, 
and terrible, moreover the Countess Esterhazy 
looked at her in astonishment, and with much 
hesitation said — 

" Madame, have you not brought any other 
dress ? " 

With much confusion she replied that she had 
not had time to have a proper dress made, but she 
was aware of the impossibility of explaining why, 
coming straight from Vienna, she had not brought 
one with her ; and the dissatisfied looks of the 
Ambassadress increased her alarm when it was time 
to go to the Empress. 

The Ambassador gave her his arm, told her to be 
sure to kiss the hand of the Empress, and they 
walked across the park to the palace, where, through 
a window on the ground floor, they saw a girl of 
about seventeen watering a pot of pinks. Slight 
and delicate, with an oval face, regular features, 




CATHERINE II., EMPRESS OF RUSSIA 



To fact- page 12s 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 125 

pale complexion, and fair hair curling round her 
forehead and neck, she wore a loose white tunic 
tied with a sash round her waist, and against the 
background of marble columns and hangings of 
pink and silver, looked like a fairy. 

It was the Grand-Duchess Elizabeth, wife of 
Alexander, eldest grandson of Catherine II., and as 
Mme. Le Brun muttered, " It is Psyche ! " she came 
to meet her, and with the most charming courtesy 
said that she had so longed to see her that she had 
even dreamed of her, and detained her talking for 
some time. A few moments afterwards Lisette 
found herself alone with the Empress Catherine. 

The Semiramis of the North, as she was called, 
received her so graciously, that all her fears and 
embarrassments disappeared. 

She took no notice of her toilette, expressed her 
deep satisfaction at her arrival in Russia, hoped she 
would be happy and stay there a long time, and 
ordered an apartment in the palace to be pre- 
pared for her during the rest of the summer. 

This, however, was not done, owing to some 
palace intrigue, and greatly to the relief of Mme. 
Le Brun, who much preferred to live by herself in 
her own way. 

The Empress was not in the least like what she 
had imagined. Short and stout, though exceedingly 
dignified, her white hair was raised high above her 
forehead, her face, still handsome, expressed the 
power and genius which characterised her com- 
manding personality, her eyes and her voice were 
gentle, and her hands extremely beautiful. She had 
taken off one of her gloves, expecting the usual 



126 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

salute, but Lisette had forgotten all about it till 
afterwards when the Ambassador asked, to her 
dismay, if she had remembered to kiss the hand of 
the Empress. 

Whatever might be her private character, 
Catherine II. was a great sovereign, a wise ruler, and 
beloved by the Russian people. In her reign 
Tartary, Lithuania, the Caucasus, Courland, and 
part of Poland were added to the vast Muscovite 
Empire ; the Russian share of Poland alone added 
six millions to her subjects. Every branch of the 
service, every corner of the empire, canals, mines, 
agriculture, commerce, received her consideration 
and supervision ; art and literature were encouraged 
and advanced ; the progress made by Russia under 
her rule was enormous. 

Catherine was the daughter of Prince Christian of 
Anhalt-Zerbst, and was sixteen years old when she 
was brought from the old castle among the lakes 
and forests of Germany to be married to Peter, son 
of Charles Frederic, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and 
Anne, eldest daughter of Peter the Great ;^ who had 
been adopted as heir by the Empress Elizabeth, his 
aunt, youngest daughter of Peter the Great, with 
whose grandson, Peter II.,^ the male line had 
ended. 

Peter of Holstein-Gottorp was seventeen ; and 

' It has been, however, confidently asserted that Peter was not 
and could not have been the son of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, 
but of a Swedish Colonel named Bruhmer, with whom by the 
advice of her mother (Catherine I.), the Duchess carried on an 
intrigue. — " Catherine II." (Castera). 

= Son of Alexis the Tsarevitch, who was put to death by his 
father, Peter the Great. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 127 

was no attractive husband for a young girl with 
an impetuous nature, strong passions, and an 
enthusiastic love of pleasure and magnificence. He 
was sullen, tyrannical, violent-tempered, brutal, 
often intoxicated, and besides terribly disfigured by 
the small-pox. 

He carried on an open liaison with the Countess 
Woronsoff, while Catherine, who regarded him with 
dislike and repugnance, consoled herself with Prince 
Soltikoff, the hero of Russia from his victory over 
Frederic the Great, King of Prussia, and then with 
Prince Stanislas Poniatowski. 

The Empress Elizabeth, whose own life was a 
constant succession of love intrigues, disapproved 
nevertheless of this open and public scandal, 
particularly when her nephew was reported to be 
about to divorce his wife in order to marry his 
mistress. 

She sent the Countess Woronsoff to her father's 
estates in the country, dismissed Poniatowski from 
St. Petersburg, and tried to reconcile the ill-matched 
couple ; but in vain. She died soon afterwards, and 
Peter III., a German at heart, proceeded on his 
accession to make himself hated in Russia by his 
infatuation for everything Prussian ; Prussia being 
the nation of all others disliked by his subjects. 
He discarded the French and Austrian alliance, 
attached himself to Frederic, King of Prussia, and 
besides all the unpopular changes he made in his 
own army, accepted the rank of an officer in that of 
Prussia, wore the Prussian uniform, and declared 
that he preferred the title of a Prussian Major- 
General to any other he possessed I 



128 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

He quarrelled with the clergy and the nobles, and 
tried to re-model everything after the German 
fashion. Even such changes as were beneficial he 
carried out in a manner so intolerable that very soon 
a powerful party was formed against him, of which 
Catherine was the head. 

For she was as much loved as he was detested. 
German though she was she identified herself with 
the nation whose crown she wore, she carried on 
the traditions of Peter the Great and Elizabeth ; 
made friends of the church, the army, and the 
nobles, and yet had prudence enough to avoid by 
any open defiance hastening the vengeance of Peter, 
who, in spite of the warnings of the King of Prussia, 
despised his enemies, disbelieved in his unpopularity, 
and occupied himself with projects for adopting as 
his heir the unfortunate Ivan VI., whom Elizabeth 
had dethroned and imprisoned, disowning his son, 
divorcing his wife, and marrying the Countess 
Woronsoff. Whilst he loitered away his time with 
the latter at Oranienbaum, the conspiracy broke 
forth ; headed by the brothers Orloff, five men of 
gigantic stature, powerful and capable in mind and 
body. They were all in the Guards, and succeeded 
in bringing over that and six other regiments. 
Catherine and one of her ladies left the palace 
in a cart disguised as peasants, then, changing into 
officers' uniforms, arrived at the barracks, where 
Catherine was hailed with enthusiasm by soldiers, 
clergy, and people as Catherine II., Empress of all 
the Russias.^ 

' Catherine II. was adored by the army and knew how to 
appreciate the prowess of her soldiers. After a great victory of 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 129 

The troops marched to Oranienbaum, the 
Emperor fled and proposed to abdicate and retire 
to Holstein with the Countess Woronsoff, but he 
was persuaded to go to Peterhoff in order to make 
arrangements, was seized by the conspirators, 
thrown into prison, where six days afterwards he 
was murdered by the Orloff, who held the supreme 
power in their hands. ^ Whether or not Catherine 
was consenting to this is not certain, though very 
probable. She hated Peter, by whom she had been 
oppressed, threatened, and ill-treated, and who had 
purposed to divorce her and disinherit her son. 

Gregory Orloff became her all-powerful favourite, 
and although she would never agree to his pre- 
posterous ambition and allow him to be married 
to her and crowned Emperor, she loaded the Orloff 
family with riches and honours, which they retained 
after other favourites had succeeded the gigantic 
guardsman in her affections. 

Of all of them the greatest was Potemkin, a Polish 
officer, to whom it was rumoured that she was 
secretly married, and whom she made Generalissimo 
of the Armies of Russia, Grand Admiral of the Fleet, 
and supreme Hetman of the Cossacks. 

Potemkin cannot be judged as a commonplace 
favourite, exalted or destroyed by a caprice ; he 
represented the ambition of Russia in the eighteenth 
century ; after his death Catherine could never 
replace that splendid and supple intelligence." 

General Souvavoff she sent him a courrier with simply an empty 
envelope on which was written 'Mm Marechal Souvaroff." 

' " Catherine II." (J. Castera). 

' " La Grande Catherine " (Capefigue). 

10 



130 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

He had been dead about four years when Mme. 
Le Brun arrived in Russia, but was still talked of as 
a sort of magician. His niece, the Countess Scaw- 
ronska, said to her — 

" If my uncle had known you, he would have 
overwhelmed you with honours and riches." 

Amongst Lisette's new Russian friends was the 
beautiful Princesse Dolgorouki, with whom Count 
Cobentzel was hopelessly in love ; but as Lisette 
observed, her indifference was not to be wondered 
at, for Cobentzel was fifty and very ugly ; and 
Potemkin had been in love with her. Besides 
all his other gifts he was extremely handsome and 
charming, and his generosity and magnificence were 
unparalleled. 

When on the fete Sainte Catherine he gave a 
great banquet supposed to be in honour of the 
Empress, crystal cups full of diamonds were 
brought in at dessert, the diamonds being served 
in spoonsful to the ladies. 

The Princess remarking on this extravagance, he 
said in a low voice — 

" Puisque c'est vous que je fete, comment vous 
etonnez-vous de qtielque chose ? "^ 

For her name also was Catherine. 

Another time, hearing that the Princess wanted 
some shoes for a ball, he sent an express which 
travelled night and day to Paris to get them. 

And it was well-known that he had ordered the 
assault upon the fortress of Otshakoff to be 
prematurely made because she wished to see it. 

The lavish, almost barbaric hospitality of the 

" Since it is in your honour, why should anything surprise you ? 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 131 

great Russian nobles both at St. Petersburg and 
Moscow astonished Mme. Le Brun. Many of 
them possessed colossal fortunes and kept open 
house. Prince Narischkin, Grand Equerry, had 
always a table to sit five-and-twenty or thirty guests. 

Mme. Le Brun found society at the Russian 
capital extremely amusing, and was, if possible, 
received with even more enthusiasm than in the 
other countries in which she had sojourned. She 
went to balls, dinners, suppers, or theatricals every 
night, and when she could manage to spare the time 
from the numerous portraits she painted, she went 
to stay in the country houses and palaces near, 
where in addition to other festivities they had 
fetes on the Neva by night, in gorgeously fitted 
up boats with crimson and gold curtains, accom- 
panied by musicians. 

Financially, in spite of the large sums she gained, 
Lisette was at first unfortunate. She placed 45,000 
francs in a bank which broke immediately after- 
wards. 

Returning at one o'clock one morning from some 
theatricals at the Princess Menzikoff, she was met 
by Mme. Charot in consternation announcing that 
she had been robbed by her German servant of 
35,000 francs, that the lad had tried to throw 
suspicion upon a Russian, but the money having 
been found upon him he had been arrested by the 
police, who had taken all the money as a proof, 
having first counted the gold pieces. 

Mme. Le Brun blamed her for having let the 
gold go, and just as she said, she never got its value 
again, for although the same number of pieces were 



132 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

returned, instead of the Austrian gold coins they 
only gave her ducats, worth so much less that she 
lost 15,000 francs by them. Then she heard that 
the boy was sentenced to be hanged, and as he was 
the son of a concierge and his wife belonging to the 
Prince de Ligne, excellent people who had served 
her in Vienna with attention and civility, she was 
in despair, hurried to the governor to obtain his 
pardon, and with much difficulty succeeded in 
getting him sent away by sea ; for the Empress had 
heard of it, and was very angry. 

To her joy she met her old friend Doyen, the 
painter. He had emigrated two years after her, and 
arrived at St. Petersburg with no money. The 
Empress came to his assistance and offered him the 
directorship of the Academy of Arts. He settled in 
the Russian capital, where he got plenty of employ- 
ment, painting both pictures and ceilings for the 
Empress, who liked him, and for the Russian 
nobles. The Empress gave him a place near her 
own box at the theatre, and used often to talk to him. 

While she was still in Vienna, Lisette had been 
told by the Baronne de Strogonoff of the Greek 
supper at Paris, which she said she knew cost 
80,000 francs. 

" You astonish me ! " said the Baronne, when the 
affair was explained to her ; " for at St. Petersburg 
we were told about it by one of your countrymen, 

M. L , who said he knew you very well, and 

was present at the supper." 

To which Lisette replied that she did not know 

M. L at all except by name ; and the matter 

ended. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 133 

A few days after her arrival at St. Petersburg, 

where M. L did not suppose she would ever 

come, Mme. Le Brun went to see Mme. de Strogo- 
noff, and as she was not well, went into her bedroom 
and sat down by the bed. 

Presently M. L was announced, and Mme. 

Le Brun having hidden herself behind the curtains, 
Mme. de Strogonoff ordered him to be shown in, 
and said to him — 

"Well, you must be very glad, for Mme. Le Brun 
has just arrived." 

M. L began to hesitate and stammer, 

while his hostess continued to question him ; and 
Mme. Le Brun, coming out from behind the 
curtain, said — 

"Then you know Mme. Le Brun very well, 
Monsieur ? " 

" Yes," he replied. 

" Well, that is very strange," she observed ; 
" because I am Mme. Le Brun, whom you have 
calumniated, and I now see you for the first time 
in my life." 

At this he rose, his legs seeming to tremble under 
him, and taking his hat he left the room and was 
seen no more, for in consequence of this he was 
excluded from all the best houses. 

When the Empress returned from Czarskoiesolo 
she desired Mme. Le Brun to paint the portraits 
of the Grand Duchesses Alexandrine and Helena, 
daughters of the Tsarevitch, then fourteen and 
thirteen years old, and afterwards that of the Grand 
Duchess Elizabeth, wife of Alexander, eldest 
grandson of the Empress, the young girl she had 



134 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

seen on her first visit to Czarskoiesolo, by whom 
she was completely fascinated. 

The Imperial family, with whom she soon 
became well acquainted, consisted of the Tsare- 
vitch, afterwards Paul I., his wife, Marie of Wur- 
temburg, a tall, fair, noble-looking woman, whom 
every one liked and respected, their sons, the wives 
of the two elder ones, and their daughters. 

They were all entirely under the domination of 
the Empress, against whose will nobody dared to 
rebel, though Paul as a child used to ask his tutor 
why his father had been killed and why his mother 
wore the crown which ought to have been his. 

He was the only one of the Imperial family 
Lisette was at all afraid of, for the Empress was 
unceasingly good to her, and the princes and 
princesses were all very young. 

Alexander, afterwards Alexander I., resembled 
his mother in beauty and charm of character ; but 
Constantine was like his father, whose eccentric, 
gloomy disposition seemed to foreshadow the fate 
which lay before him. His strange, unbalanced 
nature alternated between good and evil ; capricious 
and violent, he was yet capable of kindness and 
generosity. 

Constantine, although very young, was married 
to the Princess Anne of Coburg, of whom Mme. 
Le Brun remarked that without being so lovely as 
the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, she was still very 
pretty, very lively, and only sixteen years old. She 
was not happy with Constantine, from whom she 
separated after a time and went back to her own 
family. 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 13S 

Neither of the young wives were altogether 
fortunate, for some years later two beautiful Polish 
girls, whose father had been killed in the Polish 
war, were brought by their mother to the Russian 
court. The eldest and prettiest was only sixteen, 
and was married to Prince Narischkin, but the 
overpowering passion which she inspired in the 
Emperor Alexander is well known ; whilst her 
sister captivated the terrible Constantine. 

Mme. Le Brun saw Mme. de Narischkin and 
her sister before she left Russia, for though she 
only intended to be there for a short time, she 
remained for six years, making an immense number 
of friends, and apparently no enemy but Zuboff, 
the last favourite of the Empress Catherine, an 
arrogant, conceited young man of two-and-twenty, 
whom she supposed she had offended by not paying 
court to him ; and therefore he tried all he could to 
injure her with the Empress. 

She lived opposite the palace, and could see the 
Empress open a window and throw food to flocks 
of crows that always came for it ; and in the 
evenings when the salons were lighted up she could 
watch her playing hide-and-seek and other games 
with her grandchildren and some of the court. 

For she adored her grandchildren, whom she 
kept entirely under her own control, allowing their 
parents to have no voice in their education, 
which she certainly directed with great care and 
wisdom. 

Every one crowded to the studio of Mme. 
Le Brun on Sundays to see the portraits of the 
Grand Duchesses. Zuboff, seeing the crowd of 



136 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

carriages which, after leaving the palace, stopped 
before her house, remarked to the Empress — 

" See Madame, people go also to pay their court 
to Mme. Le Brun. They must certainly be rendez- 
vous which they have at her house." 

But his insinuations made no impression upon 
the Empress. She liked Mme. Le Brun and paid 
no attention to him. 

The climate of Russia Lisette became gradually 
accustomed to. The absence of spring and 
autumn, the short, hot summer, not beginning 
until June and ending in August, were at first very 
strange to her. The first May she spent there the 
half-melted snow was on the ground and the 
windows still closed up, while enormous blocks of 
ice came crashing down the Neva with a noise like 
thunder. 

The splendid ceremony of the benediction of the 
Neva by the Archimandrite, in the presence of the 
Empress, the Imperial family, and all the great 
dignitaries, deeply impressed her. 

One day at the end of May when she and her 
daughter were walking in the summer gardens, they 
noticed that all the shrubs were covered only with 
buds. Taking a long walk round the gardens and 
returning to the same place, they found all the buds 
had burst into leaf. 

The cold of the long winters she found, as every 
one says, much more supportable than in other 
countries whilst indoors, the heating of the houses 
being so perfect. And sledging parties were added 
to the other amusements of her life. 

The hot weather she used to spend at some house 



MADAME VIGiE LE BRUM 137 

she took or had lent to her in the country near 
St. Petersburg. 

One Sunday in October, 1796, Lisette went, after 
mass, to the palace to present the portrait she had 
just finished of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth. 

After expressing her satisfaction, the Empress 
said — 

" They are absolutely resolved that you shall do 
my portrait. I am very old, but still, as they all 
wish it, I will give you the first sitting this day 
week." 

The following Thursday morning the Empress 
did not ring as usual at nine o'clock. They waited 
till after ten, and then the first femme de chambre 
went in and found her lying on the floor struck by 
apoplexy. 

Lisette was at home with her daughter, who was 
just recovering from an illness, when the news was 
brought to her. 

Filled with alarm and sorrow, she hurried to the 
Princess Dolgorouki, where Count Cobentzel 
brought them constant news from the palace, 
where desperate but fruitless efforts were being 
made to revive the Empress. 

Everywhere was nothing but consternation, grief, 
and alarm ; for all ranks and classes not only 
adored Catherine, but were terrified at the advent 
of Paul. 

In the evening Catherine II. died and Paul 
arrived. Lisette hardly dared leave the Princess 
Dolgorouki's, to go home, as every one was saying 
there would be a revolution against Paul. The 
streets were filled with people, but there was no 



138 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

disorder. The crowds reassembled next day before 
the palace of Catherine, calling her their mother, 
with cries and tears. 

For six weeks she lay in state in a great room in 
the palace, which was illuminated day and night. 
The Emperor had his father, Peter III., brought 
from the convent where he was buried to be taken 
at the same time as Catherine to the fortress where 
all the Russian monarchs are interred. He obliged 
the assassins of his father to carry the corners of 
the funeral pall, and himself, bareheaded, with the 
Empress and all the ladies of the court, with long 
trains and veils, walked through the snow and fear- 
ful cold in the procession from the palace to the 
fortress. 




PAUL, EMPEROR OF RUSSIA 



To face page ijg 



CHAPTER X 

Paul I. — Terror he inspired — Death of the mother of Mme. Le 
Brun— Marriage of her daughter — Moscow — The Tsarevitch 
Alexander — Assassination of Paul I. — ■" I salute my Emperor " — 
Mme. Le Brun returns to Paris — Changes — London — Life in 
England — Paris — Separated from M. Le Brun — Society during 
the Empire— Caroline Murat — Switzerland — Fall of the 
Empire — Restoration — Death of M. Le Brun — Of her daughter 
— ^Travels in France — Her nieces — Conclusion. 

FROM Catherine II. to Paul I. was indeed a 
fearful change. The sudden accession to 
supreme power after a life of repression increased 
the malady which was gaining ground upon him. 
It was evident that his brain was affected, and the 
capricious violence and cruelty which he was now 
free to exercise as he pleased left nobody in peace 
or safety. 

Nobody could feel sure when they got up in the 
morning that they would go safely to bed at night ; 
the slightest offence given to the Emperor meant 
imprisonment or Siberia, and his orders were so 
preposterous that it was difficult not to offend him. 

He commanded every one to salute his palace, 
even when he was not there. He forbade round 
hats, and sent police about with long sticks to 
knock off any they met. 

139 



140 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

There were spies everywhere ; people never dared 
mention him, and began to be afraid to receive their 
friends at all, or if they did, carefully closed the 
shutters ; if a ball took place, the carriages were 
sent away for fear of attracting attention. 

The order was given for every one to wear 
powder, but as Mme. Le Brun did not like it in 
portraits, and was painting that of Prince Baria- 
tinski, she begged him to come without it. One 
day he arrived in her studio pale and trembling. 

" What is the matter ? " she exclaimed. 

" Ah ! " cried he. " I have just met the Emperor 
as I came to you. I had only time to rush 
under a portico and am dreadfully afraid he recog- 
nised me." 

One night, at a masked ball, a young man acci- 
dentally in a crowd pushed against a woman, who 
cried out. 

Paul turned to one of his aides-de-camp, saying — 

"Take that gentleman to the fortress and come 
back and tell me when he is safely shut up 
there." 

The aide-de-camp returned, saying that he had 
executed the order, but adding — 

" Your Majesty must know that that young man 
is extremely shortsighted ; here is the proof." And 
he held out his spectacles, which he had brought. 

The Emperor tried them on and exclaimed 
hastily — 

" Run quick and fetch him and take him to his 
parents. I shall not go to bed till you tell me he is 
safe at home." 

Lisette was dreadfully afraid of him, for although 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 141 

he liked her, and was always extremely polite and 
pleasant to her, she never felt that she could trust 
him. 

He gave orders that every one, women as well as 
men, should get out of their sledges or carriages 
when he passed. It was dreadfully cold, with deep 
snow, and he was always driving about, often almost 
without escort, so that he was not at once recog- 
nised ; but it was dangerous to disobey. 

One day Lisette was driving, and seeing him 
coming when her coachman did not, she called 
out — 

" Stop ! Stop ! It is the Emperor 1 " But as 
she was getting out, he descended from his sledge 
and hastened to prevent her, saying with a most 
gracious air that his orders did not apply to 
foreigners, above all, not to Mme. Le Brun. 

He continued the kindness of Catherine II. to 
Doyen, who was now very old, and lived prosperous 
and happy, and, as Mme. Le Brun said, if her 
father's old friend was satisfied with his lot at St. 
Petersburg, she was not less so. 

She now painted the whole day except when on 
Sundays she received in her studio the numbers of 
people, from the Imperial family downwards, who 
came to see her portraits ; to which she had added 
a new and great attraction, for she had caused to 
be sent from Paris her great picture of Marie 
Antoinette in a blue velvet dress, which excited the 
deepest interest. The Prince de Conde, when he 
came to see it, could not speak, but looked at it and 
burst into tears. 

Society was so full of French refugees that 



142 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Lisette remarked she could almost fancy herself 
in Paris. 

The Emperor desired her to paint the portrait of 
the Empress, whom she represented standing in full 
court dress, with a crown of diamonds. Lisette 
used to declare that she was like a woman out of 
the Gospel, and that she was the only woman she 
knew whom no calumny ever attacked. One day 
she brought her two youngest sons to the sitting, 
the Grand Dukes Nicolas and Michael, then children. 
Of the Grand Duke Nicolas, afterwards Emperor, 
Mme. Le Brun declared that she had never seen a 
more beautiful child, and that she could paint from 
memory his face, which had all the characteristic 
beauty of Greece. 

But amidst all this professional and social 
prosperity Mme. Le Brun was now to experience 
two severe domestic sorrows, one of which was the 
loss of her mother, of whose death her brother sent 
her the news from France. The other, related 
to her daughter, was entirely owing to her own 
infatuated folly, and was not at all surprising. 

For Mme. Le Brun had so brought up the girl that 
it would have been a miracle if she had not turned 
out, as she did, utterly selfish, vain, and heartless. 

Jeanne Le Brun was, according to her mother, 
pretty, clever, extremely well-educated, charming in 
manner, and universally admired. Allowing for 
her infatuation, it was probable that her daughter 
was attractive. She was now seventeen, and went 
into society with her mother, whose foolish admira- 
tion and flattery encouraged all her faults. 

Mme. Le Brun allowed her to have her own way 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 143 

in all things ; made herself a slave to her caprices, 
as she had always done ; and when her friends 
remonstrated with her upon her folly, paid no 
attention to them, or replied that everybody loved 
or admired her child. Being engaged all day and 
unable to go out much with Jeanne, she allowed 
her to go on sledging parties with the Countess 
Czernicheff, and often to spend the evenings at her 
house, where she met and fell in love with the 
Count's secretary, M. Nigris, a good-looking man of 
thirty with neither fortune, talent, character, con- 
nections, or any recommendation whatever. 

In vain Mme. Le Brun tried to dissuade her 
from this deplorable marriage, the spoilt young 
girl, accustomed to have everything she chose, 
would not give way ; the Czernicheff and other 
objectionable friends she had made supported her 
against her mother, the worst of all being her 
governess, Mme. Charot, who had betrayed the 
confidence of Mme. Le Brun by giving her daughter 
books to read of which she disapproved, filling her 
head with folly, and assisting her secretly in this 
fatal love-affair. 

After being tormented and persecuted for some 
time, Mme. Le Brun yielded, gave her consent, 
obtained that of M. Le Brun, and provided a hand- 
some dotf trousseau, and jewels for the intolerable 
girl, who did not show the slightest gratitude or 
affection to her mother, but behaved throughout in 
the most insolent, heartless manner. 

A fortnight after the marriage she no longer cared 
about her husband, and soon afterwards she caught 
the small-pox. 



144 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Mme. Le Brun nursed her through it with a 
devotion she did not deserve, and then ill, ex- 
hausted, and out of spirits, set off for Moscow, 
where she arrived after a long journey full of hard- 
ships, bad roads, and thick fogs. The sight of 
Moscow, the ancient splendid capital, before it was 
devastated by the fire and sword of the invader, 
with its huge palaces and thousands of domes sur- 
mounted with gold crosses, filled her with admira- 
tion and delight. 

She was received with the hospitality and 
distinction she always experienced, met many old 
acquaintances, and passed several months very 
pleasantly. 

Society was much larger here than at St. 
Petersburg, where it seemed almost to form one 
family, every one being related to each other. 

It was with difficulty that she tore herself away 
when, in March, 1801, she wished to return to St. 
Petersburg, and it was upon her journey thither 
that she heard of the assassination of Paul I. 

She had stopped to change horses and found that 
she could get none, as they were being sent all over 
the country to convey the news. She was con- 
sequently obliged to remain all night in her carriage, 
which was drawn up by the roadside close to a 
river, from which blew a bitterly cold wind. 

When at length she arrived in St. Petersburg 
she found the city in a frenzy of delight. They 
danced in the streets, embracing each other, and 
exclaiming — 

" What a deliverance ! " 

Indeed, many houses had been illuminated, such 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 145 

was the terror he had inspired and the cruelty of 
his actions. 

For some time the character of Paul had become 
more and more gloomy and menacing ; his mind 
was filled with the darkest suspicions, even to the 
extent of believing that the Empress and his 
children were conspiring against his life ; which was 
all the more terrible for the Empress Marie, as they 
had for many years, as long as the Empress 
Catherine lived, been very happy together, and in 
spite of everything she still remained deeply 
attached to him. 

This was all the more inexplicable as he not only 
suspected and accused her of conspiracy, but made 
no pretence of being faithful to her, and had taken 
away Mme. Chevalier, the mistress of his devoted 
valet de chamhre, Koutaivoff. The doors between 
his own apartments and those of the Empress he 
had caused to be double-locked, thereby preventing 
his own escape when the conspirators forced their 
way into his room, headed by Zuboff, whom he had 
first exiled, then loaded with favours. 

They had systematically augmented his suspicions 
till they induced him to sign an order for the arrest 
of the Empress, the Tsarevitch, and the Grand 
Duke Constantine, and this document they showed 
the Tsarevitch, saying : " You see that your father 
is mad, and you will all be lost unless we prevent it 
by shutting him up instead." 

Alexander, seeing the fearful danger hanging over 
his mother, his brother, and himself, was silent ; 
and Pahlen, who was the director of the plot, took 
care that it should go much further than restraint. 



146 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

When Alexander heard of the assassination of his 
father his grief and horror left no doubt of his 
ignorance of what had been intended and carried 
out ; and when, on presenting himself to his mother 
she cried out, " Go away ! Go away ! I see you 
stained with your father's blood ! " he replied with 
tears — 

" I call God to witness, mother, that I did not 
order this dreadful crime ! " 

When the affair was fully explained to her she 
threw herself at his feet, exclaiming — 

" Then I salute my Emperor." 

The strong affection between Alexander I. and 
his mother lasted as long as she lived. 

The young Emperor and Empress showed the 
same kindness and friendship to Mme. Le Brun as 
their parents and grandmother, but the time had 
come when she was resolved to return to France, 
and in spite of the entreaties of the Emperor and 
Empress, of her friends, and of her own regret at 
leaving a country to which she had become 
attached, she started in September, 1801, for Paris, 
leaving her ungrateful daughter, her unsatisfactory 
son-in-law, and her treacherous governess behind. 

She was received with delight at her house 
in the rue du Gros-Chenei, by M. Le Brun, her 
brother, her sister-in-law, and their only child, the 
niece who was to fill her daughter's place. The 
house was beautifully furnished and filled with 
flowers, and that same evening a grand concert in 
her honour was given in the large salon of a house 
in a garden adjoining, which also belonged to 
M. Le Brun, who told her that he had during the 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 147 

Revolution, when the churches were closed, lent this 
salon to celebrate mass. 

The applause with which she was welcomed on 
entering the salott so overcame her that she burst 
into tears. Next day those of her friends who had 
survived the Revolution began to flock to see her. 
Her old friend, Mme. Bonneuil, was among the 
first, and invited her to a ball the following night 
given by her daughter, now the celebrated beauty, 
Mme. Regnault de Saint-Jean-d'Angely, to which 
she went in a dress made of the gold-embroidered 
India muslin given her by the unfortunate Mme. 
Du Barry. 

There she met many old friends, and saw many 
new beauties, amongst others Signora Visconti, the 
mistress of Berthier, and another by whom she was 
so attracted that she involuntarily exclaimed — 

" Ah, Madame ! Comme vous 6tes belle I " 

It was Mme. Jouberthon, afterwards the wife of 
Lucien Buonaparte. 

Macdonald, Marmont, and other generals were 
pointed out during the evening ; it was a new 
world to her. 

Madame Buonaparte came to see her, recalled 
the balls at which they had met before the Revolu- 
tion, and asked her to come some day to breakfast 
with the First Consul. But Mme. Le Brun did 
not like the family or surroundings of the Buona- 
parte, differing so entirely as they did from the 
society in which she had always lived, and did 
not receive with much enthusiasm this invitation 
which was never repeated. 

The Louvre, then filled with works of art — the 



148 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

plunder of the rest of Europe — was naturally a 
great attraction, in fact so absorbed was Lisette 
in the wonders it contained that she was shut in 
when it closed, and only escaped passing the night 
there by knocking violently at a little door she dis- 
covered. The aspect of Paris depressed her ; still 
in the streets were the inscriptions, " Liberty, 
Equality, and Fraternity," which in France bore 
so horrible a meaning. Many of the friends for 
whom she inquired had perished on the scaffold ; 
nearly all who survived had lost either parents, 
husband, wife, or some other near relation. The 
change in dress gave her a gloomy impression ; 
the absence of powder, which she was accus- 
tomed to see in other countries, the numerous 
black coats which had displaced the gorgeous 
velvets, satin, and gold lace of former days — in 
her opinion made a theatre or an evening party 
look like a funeral ; the manners and customs of 
the new society were astonishing and repulsive 
to her. 

Still, there was at first much to attract her. The 
friends who had survived were delighted to have 
her again amongst them. Many of her foreign 
friends arrived in Paris ; she began again to give 
suppers which were as popular as ever. She even 
gave a ball at which the celebrated dancers, M. de 
Trenis, Mme. Hamelin, and Mme. Demidoff, excited 
general admiration. She also gave private theatricals 
in her large gallery. 

The peace of Amiens had just been signed, 
society was beginning to be reorganised. The 
Princess Dolgorouki who, to Lisette's great joy, 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 149 

was in Paris, gave a magnificent ball, at which, 
Lisette remarked, young people of twenty saw 
for the first time in their lives liveries in the 
salons and ante-rooms of the ambassadors, and 
foreigners of distinction richly dressed, wearing 
orders and decorations. With several of the new 
beauties she was enchanted, especially Mme. 
R^camier and Mme. Tallien. She renewed her 
acquaintance with Mme. Campan, and went down 
to dine at her famous school at Saint Germain, 
where the daughters of all the most distinguished 
families were now being educated. Madame Murat, 
sister of Napoleon, was present at dinner, and the 
First Consul himself came to the evening theatricals, 
when " Esther " was acted by the pupils. Mile. 
Auguier, niece of Mme. Campan, afterwards wife 
of Marshal Ney, taking the chief part. 

The brothers of Napoleon came to see the 
pictures of Mme. Le Brun, which Lucien especially 
greatly admired. 

The Princess Dolgorouki came to see her after 
being presented to Napoleon, and on her asking 
how she liked his court, replied, " It is not a court 
at all ; it is a power." 

The scarcity of women at that time and the 
enormous number of soldiers of all ranks gave 
that impression to one used to the brilliant 
Russian court. 

But the changed aspect of Paris, the loss of so 
many she loved, and perhaps most of all the un- 
grateful conduct of her daughter, depressed Mme. 
Le Brun so that she lost her spirits, had a perpetual 
craving to be alone, and for this purpose took a 



150 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

little house in the wood of Meudon, where, except 
for the visits of the Duchesse de Fleury and one or 
two other friends who lived near, she could to a 
certain extent indulge in her new fancy for solitude. 

After a few months, however, finding that she did 
not become accustomed or reconciled to her sur- 
roundings, she resolved to go abroad again, and as 
she had never seen England she chose that country 
for her next wanderings, and set off in April, 1802, 
accompanied by a companion she had taken to live 
with her, named Adelaide, who soon became a dear 
and indispensable friend. She intended to spend 
only a few months in England, but as usual, when 
she arrived there, she soon made so much money 
and so many friends that she remained for three 
years, dividing her time between London and the 
country houses, where she was always welcome. 

Society in London she found trisie after the 
splendour of St. Petersburg and the brilliant gaiety 
of Paris and Vienna, declaring that what struck 
her most was the want of conversation, and that 
a favourite form of social entertainment was what 
was called a " rout," at which no sort of amuse- 
ment or real social intercourse was offered or 
expected, the function merely consisting of an 
enormous crowd of people walking up and down 
the rooms, the men generally separate from the 
women. 

However, she had plenty of interests, and made 
many English friends besides the numerous French 
emigres she found there. She painted the portraits 
of the Prince of Wales, Lord Byron, the Comtesse 
de Polastron, adored by the Comte d'Artois, who was 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 151 

inconsolable when she died soon afterwards, and 
many others — English, French, Russian, and German 
— and made the acquaintance of the first musicians, 
actors, and singers x>i the day ; also of the painters, 
many of whom were extremely jealous of her. 

The Due de Berri, second son of the Comte 
d'Artois, was often at her house, and she met also 
the sons of Philippe-Egalite, the eldest of whom 
was afterwards Louis-Philippe, King of France. 
She was in London when the news came of the 
murder of the Due d'Enghien, and witnessed the 
outburst of horror and indignation it called forth. 
His father, the Due de Bourbon, came to see her 
a month later, so changed by grief that she was 
shocked. He sat down without speaking, and then 
covering his face with his hands to conceal his tears, 
he said, " No ! I shall never get over it." 

Mme. Le Brun went to all the chief watering- 
places — Bath, Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, Matlock, 
&c. — she found English life monotonous, as it 
certainly was in those da3's, and hated the climate 
of London ; but she had gathered round her a 
congenial society, with whom she amused herself 
very well, and whom she left with regret when she 
decided to return to France, partly because her un- 
grateful daughter had arrived there, and was being 
introduced by her father to many undesirable 
people. 

She embarked with Adelaide for Rotterdam, and 
on arriving at Paris found her daughter, who had 
neither lost her good looks nor her social attrac- 
tions, but was otherwise as unsatisfactory as ever. 
For her husband she had long ceased to care at 



152 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

all. They had come to Paris to engage some artists 
for Prince Narischkin, and when M. Nigris returned 
to Russia, his wife refused to accompany him. 

However, Mme. Le Brun was overjoyed to see 
Jeanne, and to keep her in Paris, although she 
refused to live with her, because the people with 
whom she persisted in associating were so objec- 
tionable that her mother would not meet them. 

Mme. Le Brun was now virtually separated from 
her husband, with whom it would have been im- 
possible for her to live unless she were prepared to 
allow him to spend her fortune, and reduce her 
to beggary. She soon collected round her a large 
society of friends, and resumed the soirees at which 
they amused themselves as far as possible after their 
old fashion, acting tableaux vivants, &c. 

Catalani, then young and beautiful, was one of 
her new friends, and used to sing at her parties. 
She painted her portrait, and kept it as a pendant 
to the one she had done of Grassini in London. 

Grassini had sung at her London parties, and 
comparing these two great singers and actresses — 
both young, beautiful, and celebrated — Mme. Le 
Brun found that although the voice of Catalani 
was in its beauty and compass one of the most 
extraordinary ever known, Grassini had more 
expression. 

Amongst other old friends whom she now fre- 
quented was the Comtesse de Segur, who equally 
disliked the alterations in social matters. 

" You wouldn't believe," she said to Lisette, who 
came to see her at eight o'clock one evening, and 
found her alone, " that I have had twenty people to 




Madame J'igt'i Le Kr 



COMTESSE D'ANDLAU 



To face f age is 2 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN i53 

dinner to-day ? They all went away directly after 
the coffee." 

She observed also that it was now usual for all 
the men to stand at one side of the room, leaving 
the women at the other, as if they were enemies. 

The Comte de S^gur was made Master of the 
Ceremonies by Napoleon when he became Emperor, 
after which his brother used to put on his cards, 
" Segur sans ceremonies." 

Most of the great painters were to be found at the 
house in the rue du Gros-Chenet, where the suppers 
were as gay and pleasant as of old. 

Vien, who had been first painter to the King ; 
Gerard, Gros, and Girodet, the great portrait painters 
(all pupils of David), and her old friend Robert, 
were constant guests. With David she was not on 
friendly terms ; his crimes and cruelties during the 
Revolution caused her to regard him with horror. 
He had caused Robert to be arrested, and had done 
all he could to increase the horrors of his imprison- 
ment. He had also tried to circulate the malicious 
reports about Calonne and Mme. Le Brun, of 
whom he was jealous, though his real love for his 
art made him acknowledge the excellence of her 
work. 

One day Lisette met him at the house of Isabey, 
who, having been his pupil, kept friends with him 
out of gratitude, although his principles and actions 
were abhorrent to him. It happened that she was 
his partner at cards, and being rather distraite, made 
various mistakes, which irritated David, who was 
always rude and ill-tempered, and exclaimed angrily, 
" But you made me lose by these stupid mistakes. 



154 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Why didn't you play me your king of diamonds ? 
Tell me that, I say ! " 

" Why ? " answered she contemptuously ; " because 
I know to what fate you condemn kings 1 " 

David turned pale, made his escape, and for a 
long time would not go to the house for fear of 
meeting her.^ She was afterwards told by Gros 
that David would like to go and see her, but her 
silence expressed her refusal. Soon after the return 
of Mme. Le Brun, Napoleon sent M. Denon to order 
from her the portrait of his sister, Caroline Murat. 
She did not like to refuse, although the price given 
(i,8oo francs) was less than half what she usually 
got, and Caroline Murat was so insufferable that it 
made the process a penance. She appeared with 
two maids, whom she wanted to do her hair while 
she was being painted. On being told that this was 
impossible, she consented to dismiss them, but she 
kept Mme. Le Brun at Paris all the summer by her 
intolerable behaviour. She was always changing her 
dress or coiffure, which had to be painted out and 
done over again. She was never punctual, and often 
did not come at all, when she had made the ap- 
pointment ; she was continually wanting alterations 
and giving so much trouble, that one day Mme. Le 
Brun remarked to M. Denon, loudly enough for her 
to hear — 

" I have painted real princesses and they have 
never tormented or kept me waiting." 

In 1808 and 1809 Mme. Le Brun travelled in 
Switzerland, with which she was enraptured ; after 
which she bought a country house at Louveciennes, 
' "Salons d'Autrefois " (Comtesse de Bassanville). 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUM 155 

where in future she passed the greater part of the 
year, only spending the winter in Paris. 

The paviHon of Mme. Du Barry had been sacked 
by the Revolutionists, only the walls were standing, 
while the palaces of Marly, Sceaux, and Bellevue 
had entirely disappeared. 

But the woods, the meadows, the Seine, and the 
general beauty of the landscape delighted Mme. 
Le Brun, who, after all her wanderings, began to 
have a longing for rest, became more and more 
attached to her home as the years passed, and spent 
more and more of her time there. 

The decline and fall of the Empire were no 
calamity to her, and she witnessed with heartfelt 
joy the return of the King, although she was 
seriously inconvenienced by the arrival of the 
Allies at Louveciennes in 1814. Although it was 
only March, she had already established herself 
there, and on the 31st at about eleven o'clock she 
had just gone to bed when the village was filled 
with Prussian soldiers, who pillaged the houses, 
and three of whom forced their way into her 
bedroom, accompanied by her Swiss servant Joseph, 
entreating and remonstrating in vain. They stole 
her gold snuff-box and many other things, and 
it was four hours before they could be got out of 
the house. 

Next morning she escaped to St. Germain, 
and then to Paris, leaving Joseph to take what care 
he could of her property, but the wine was all 
drunk out of the cellar, the garden and courtyard 
ravaged, and the house ransacked. To all remon- 
strances the Prussians replied that the French had 



IS6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

done much worse things in Germany ; which was 
true enough. 

With tears of joy Lisette witnessed the entry into 
Paris of the Comte d'Artois on April 12th and of 
Louis XVIII. shortly afterwards. By his side sat 
the Duchesse d'Angouleme, whose smiles mingled 
with sadness amidst the shouts of " Vive le Roi " ; 
recalled the remembrance that she was traversing 
the route by which her mother had passed to the 
scaffold. 

By the King and royal family Mme. Le Brun 
was received with especial favour and kindness, 
most of the returned emigres were her friends, and 
Paris was now again all that she wished. 

From the horrors of the Revolution she had fled 
in time ; with the Empire and its worshippers she 
had never had any sympathy ; the episode of the 
Hundred Days was a new calamity, but when it was 
past and the King again restored her joy was 
complete. 

The great picture of Marie Antoinette and her three 
children, which under Napoleon had been hidden 
away in a corner at Versailles, was taken out and 
exhibited at the Salon, where every one crowded to 
look at it. Again she painted the portraits of the 
royal family, contrasting the simple, gracious polite- 
ness of the Duchesse de Berri, of whom she did 
two portraits, with the vulgar, pretentious airs of 
Caroline Murat. 

Her favourite picture, the Sibyl, was bought by 
the Due de Berri, to whom sh© parted with it 
rather reluctantly. In 1813 M. Le Brun died. 
His death was rather a melancholy regret than 



MADAME VIGEE LE BRUN 157 

a real sorrow to her, as they had long been separated 
by mutual consent. 

But that of her daughter, who still lived in 
Paris, and who in 1819 was seized with a sudden 
illness which terminated fatally, was a terrible 
grief to her at the time ; though in fact that selfish, 
heartless woman had for many years caused her 
nothing but vexation and sorrow, and it seems 
probable that after the first grief had subsided 
her life was happier without her, for the place 
she ought to have occupied had long been filled 
by the two nieces who were looked upon by her 
and by themselves as her daughters — her brother's 
only child, Mme. de Riviere, and Eugenie Le Brun, 
afterwards Mme. Tripier Le Franc. 

By their affectionate and devoted love the rest of 
her life was made happy, even after the far greater 
loss in 1820 of the brother to whom she had always 
been deeply attached. 

Louis Vig^e was a charming and excellent man, 
well known in literary circles. He had been 
imprisoned for a time in Port Libre, but afterwards 
released. 

After his death, in order to distract her mind from 
the sorrow of it, she made a tour to Orleans, Blois, 
Tours, Bordeaux, &c., accompanied by her faithful 
Adelaide ; after which she returned home and 
resumed her usual life, a happy and prosperous one, 
continually occupied by her beloved painting, 
surrounded by numbers of friends and adored by 
the two nieces, her adopted children. Eugenie Le 
Brun was like herself, a portrait painter, and 
although not, of course, of world-wide fame like 



IS8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

her aunt, she was nevertheless a good artist, and 
made a successful career, which gave an additional 
interest to the life of Mme. Le Brun. 

Her winters were spent at Paris, where her 
house was still the resort of all the most distin- 
guished, the most ijitellectual, and the pleasantest 
people, French and foreign ; the summers at her 
beloved country home at Louveciennes. 

Thus happily and peacefully the rest of her life 
flowed on ; her interest in all political and social 
matters — art, science, and literature — remaining 
undiminished, her affection for old friends unaltered, 
while new ones were constantly added to the 
number, until on May 29, 1842, she died at the 
age of eighty-seven. 

She had painted 662 portraits, 15 pictures, 200 
landscapes, many of them in Switzerland, and many 
pastels. 



II 

LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 



CHAPTER I 

The House of Noailles — The court of Louis XV. — The Dauphin — 
The Dauphine — An evil omen — The Queen — The Convent of 
Fontevrault — Death of Mme. Therese — The Infanta — Madame 
Henriette and the Due d' Orleans — Mesdames Victoire, Sophie, 
and Louise. 

ANNE PAULE DOMINIQUE DE NOAILLES 
was by birth, character, education, and sur- 
roundings a complete contrast to our last heroine. 
She belonged to the great house of Noailles, being 
the fourth of the five daughters of the Due d'Ayen, 
eldest son of the Marechal Due de Noailles, a 
brilliant courtier high in the favour of Louis XV. 

The Duchesse d'Ayen was the only daughter of 
M. d'Aguesseau de Fresne, Conseiller d'etat, and 
granddaughter of the great Chancellor d'Aguesseau. 
From her mother, daughter of M. Dupre, conseiller 
du parleinent, she inherited a fortune of 200,000 
livres de rente, in consequence of which her family 
were able to arrange her marriage with the young 
heir of the Noailles, then Comte d'Ayen. 

The d'Aguesseau, qualifies barons in 1683, were 
amongst the most respected of the noblesse de robe, 
but their position was not, of course, to be com- 
pared to that of the de Noailles, and Mile. 

\1 i<3i 



1^2 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

d'Aguesseau was all the more pleased with the 
brilliant prospect before her, since her future 
husband was violently in love with her, and 
although a lad of sixteen, two years younger than 
herself, was so handsome, charming, and attrac- 
tive, that she, in her calmer way, returned his 
affection. 

And a lad of sixteen at the court of Louis XV. 
was very different from the average lad of that 
age in these days and this country, a shy, awkward 
schoolboy who knows nothing of the world or 
society, can only talk to other boys, and cares for 
nothing except sports and games. In the France, or 
at any rate the Paris, of those days, he was already 
a man and a courtier, probably a soldier, sometimes 
a husband and father.^ 

Likewise girls at fourteen or fifteen and even 
younger, who, with us, wear their hair down their 
backs, their petticoats half way up to their knees, 
and spend their time in lessons and play, were 
wives, mothers, court beauties, and distinguished 
members of society at the French Court of those 
days. 

The marriage took place in February, 1755, when 
the cold was so intense that the navigation of the 
Seine was stopped by the ice, which at that time, 
when traffic was carried on chiefly by means of 
the rivers, was a serious inconvenience.^ After 
the wedding the Comte and Comtesse d'Ayen went 
to live with his parents at the stately hotel de 

' "Journal de Barbier, Chronique de la Regence, 1755." 
^ The Due de Bourbon was only sixteen when his son, the 
unfortunate Due d'Enghien, was born. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 163 

Noailles, now degraded into the hotel St. JameSy 
while the vast, shady gardens that surrounded it^ 
have long disappeared ; shops and houses covering 
the ground where terraces, fountains, beds of 
flowers, and masses of tall trees then formed a 
scene of enchantment. 

The family of Noailles was a large and powerful 
one, and, as Louis XVIII. remarks in his Memoires, 
^^ Les Noailles . . . etaient tints comme chair et angle," ^ 
and having been loaded with favours by Louis XIV. 
and Louis XV., seemed to think they had a natural 
right to all the best posts and highest honours.3 

In the family of Noailles there had been six 
Marshals of France, and at the time of the marriage, 
the old Marechal de Noailles, grandfather of the 
Count, was still living.4 At his death, his son, also 
Marechal, became of course Due de Noailles, and 
his son, the husband of Mile. d'Aguesseau, Due 
d'Ayen, by which name it will be most convenient 
to call him to avoid confusion, from the beginning 
of this biography. 

The Due d'Ayen, though always retaining a deep 
affection for his wife, spent a great part of his time 
away from her. He was one of the most con- 
spicuous and brilliant figures at the court, and 
besides entering eagerly into all its pleasures, dissi- 
pation, and extravagance, was a member of the 
Academy of Science ; and although by no means 
an atheist or an enemy of religion, associated 
constantly with the " philosophers," whose ideas 

' They reached to the Tuileries. 

- " Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. ii., p. 19. 

3 Ibid.., p. 53. * He died in 1766. 



i64 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

and opinions he, like many of the French nobles 
in the years preceding the Revolution, had partly 
adopted, little imagining the terrible consequences 
that would result from them. 

Not so the Duchess, his wife. Brought up first 
in a convent and then under the care of her father, 
whose household, like those of many of the noblesse 
de robe, was regulated by a strictness and gravity 
seldom to be seen amongst the rest of the French 
nobles, Mme. d'Ayen cared very little for society, 
and preferred to stay at home absorbed in religious 
duties, charities, and domestic affairs, while her 
husband amused himself as he chose. 

The power, security, and prosperity of the throne 
and royal family of France seemed to be at that 
time absolute and unassailable ; and although of the 
ten or eleven children of Louis XV. and Marie 
Leczinska, the Dauphin was the only son who had 
lived to grow up, the succession to the crown 
appeared to be in no danger, as he had already two 
boys, the Dues de Bourgogne and Berri ; the 
Comte de Provence was born in November, 1755, 
and his birth was followed by that of the Comte 
d'Artois, besides the Princesses Clotilde and Eliza- 
beth, who by the Salic law were excluded. The 
Queen, who was seven years older than the King, was 
already fifty-two. A woman of blameless character, 
she had never been pretty, attractive, or even 
sensible. D'Argenson, writing in 1750, says of her 
that she was very stupid, made silly remarks, 
reproved her children for trifles, and passed over 
serious faults. They were all so fond of eating 
that Mesdames kept port wine, ham, and other 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 165 

things in a cupboard, and ate and drank at all 
hours. 

Louis XV., at this time about forty-five, extremely 
handsome, immersed in a life of pleasure, magnifi- 
cence, and vice, was then under the domination of 
the Duchesse de Chateauroux, maitresse en Hire, 
the youngest of the five daughters of the Marquis 
de Nesle, four of whom had been for a longer or 
shorter period the mistresses of Louis XV. That 
such a father as the King should have had such 
a son as the Dauphin is astonishing indeed. The 
author of some fascinating memoirs of the day 
writes of him, " If I have not yet spoken of M. le 
Dauphin, do not suppose that it is from negligence 
or distraction, it is because the thought of his death 
always envelopes my mind like a funeral pall. His 
premature end is ever present with me, and is a 
subject of regret and affliction which I cannot 
approach without terrible emotion. He was so 
grievously mourned for, he has been so universally 
and justly praised, that there would not be much 
left me to tell you if I were not to speak of his 
perfect beauty, which was the least of his perfec- 
tions, and which perhaps for that very reason, the 
writers of his time never mention. . . . His face and 
figure were perfectly formed ; and he had, especially 
in the movement of his lips and the gentle, melan- 
choly pride of his great black eyes, an expression 
which I have never seen unless perhaps in some 
old picture of the Spanish school ... he might 
have been an archangel of Murillo. . . . He carried 
with him the happiness of France and the peace 
of the world, but one felt that it would have 



i66 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

been perfect happiness, and that one would never 
experience it. The subjects, perhaps the family 
of the King his father had provoked such terrible 
chastisements, that we may sorrowfully say that 
France and the French of the eighteenth century 
were not worthy to be ruled by the Dauphin Louis."^ 

Of the Dauphine, Marie-Josephe de Saxe, as well 
as of his father, their son the Comte de Provence, 
afterwards Louis XVIII., writes in his Memoirs as 
follows : " His pure soul could not rest on this 
earth, his crown was not of this world, and he died 
young. France had to mourn the premature death 
of a prince, who, if he had lived might perhaps have 
saved the kingdom from the catastrophe of a blood- 
stained revolution, and his family from exile and 
the scaffold. 

" My mother, worthy to be the wife of the 
Dauphin . . . was, like him, good, pious, indulgent, 
attached to her duties, caring only for the happiness 
of others, loving the French as her own family. 
Her character, naturally grave and melancholy, was 
not without a gentle gaiety, which lent her an 
additional charm. . . . With all the philosophy of 
which some narrow minds have accused me as of 
a crime ... I have sometimes found myself, in the 
midst of great calamities, invoking the holy spirit of 
my mother and that of my august father."^ 

The Dauphin's eldest son, the Due de Bourgogne, 
died in early childhood, leaving a fearful inheritance 
to his next brother, the Due de Berri, afterwards 
Louis XVI. From his very birth ill-luck seemed to 

' " Souvenirs de Crequy." 

« " Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. i, p, 7. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 167 

overshadow him. The Dauphine was at Choisy-le- 
roy when he was born, and none of the royal family 
arrived in time to be present. The courier sent to 
Paris to announce the news fell from his horse at 
the barriere and was killed. The Abbe de Saujon, 
sent for to baptise him privately, was stricken with 
paralysis on the great staircase at Versailles. Of the 
three wet-nurses chosen for him two died within 
the week, and the third was seized with small-pox 
in six weeks. 

"All this is not of good omen," said the King, his 
grandfather, " and I don't know how it can have 
happened that I have made him Due de Berri ; it is 
an unlucky name.''^ 

" Mesdames de France," the King's daughters, of 
whom there had been seven or eight, were now 
reduced to five, four of whom were unmarried. 
Nothing is more characteristic of the period than 
the way these princesses were brought up and 
educated ; and the light thrown upon manners and 
customs early in the eighteenth century gives 
interest to all the details concerning them. 

The Queen had bad health and saw very little of 
them, although she loved them in her apathetic way, 
but she was too much occupied with her devotions, 
her nerves, and her health to trouble herself much 
about them. If there was going to be a thunder- 
storm, or she was nervous and could not go to sleep, 
she would make one of her ladies sit by her bed all 
night, holding her hand and telling her stories. On 

' " Voila qui n'est pasd'un heureux augure, et jene sais comment 
il a pu se faire que je I'aie titre Due de Berry : c'est un nom qui 
porte malheur," 



i68 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

one occasion, after the death of the King's mistress, 
the Duchesse de Chateauroux, she was dreadfully 
afraid lest she should see her ghost, and so tor- 
mented the lady-in-waiting who sat by her, that she 
at last exclaimed — 

" But your Majesty must remember that even if 
the Duchess were to return to re-visit us, it would 
not be your Majesty she would come after." 

The King was very fond of his daughters, but had 
no idea of bringing them up properly. The four 
younger ones were sent to the convent of Fonte- 
vrault, in Anjou, to be educated, and as they never 
came home and were never visited by their parents, 
they were strangers to each other when, after twelve 
years, the two youngest came back. As to the 
others, Madame Victoire returned when she was 
fourteen, and Madame Th6rese, who was called 
Madame Sixi^me, because she was the sixth 
daughter of the King, died when she was eight 
years old at Fontevrault. 

A fete was given to celebrate the recovery of the 
King from an illness ; at which the little princess, 
although very unwell, insisted on being present. 
The nuns gave way, though the child was very 
feverish and persisted in sitting up very late. The 
next day she was violently ill with small-pox, and 
died. 

The three eldest princesses, who had always re- 
mained at court, were, Louise-Elizabeth, called 
Madame ; ^ handsome, clever, and ambitious ; who 
was married to the Duke of Parma, Infant of Spain, 

' The Duchess of Parma died 1759, 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 169 

a younger son of Philip V., consequently her 
cousin.^ 

Next came her twin sister, Henriette, from whom 
she had parted almost heart-broken, when she 
reluctantly left France for Parma. Henriette was 
the King's favourite daughter, the best and most 
charming of all the princesses. Lovely, gentle, and 
saintly, the Due de Chartres^ was deeply in love 
with her and she with him. The King was disposed 
to allow the marriage, but was dissuaded by 
Cardinal Fleury. If the Infanta had been in 
question she would have got her own way, but 
Henriette was too yielding and submissive. She 
died at twenty-five years of age, of the small-pox, 
so fatal to her race (1752) to the great grief of 
the court and royal family, and especially of the 
King, by whom she was adored. 

At the time of the marriage of the young M. 
and Mme. d'Ayen, the Princesse Adelaide had to 
some extent, though never entirely, succeeded the 
Princesse Henriette in the King's affection, and was 
now supposed to be his favourite daughter. She 
had, however, none of her elder sister's charm, 
gentleness, or beauty ; being rather plain, with a 
voice like that of a man. She had a strong, decided 
character, and more brains than her younger sisters, 
Victoire, Sophie, and Louise ; she was fond of study, 
especially of music, Italian, and mathematics. 

Two or three years before the marriage of the 

' Philippe v., grandson of Louis XIV., second son of Louis, le 
Grand Dauphin. His right to the crown of Spain was disputed in 
the War of Succession. 

* Afterwards Due d'Orleans, grandson of the Regent, 



I70 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

young M. and Mme. d'Ayen, his father the Duke, 
who was captain in the gardes-dii-corps,'^ was con- 
sulted by one of the guards of his regimerit, who in 
much perplexity showed him a costly snuff-box 
which had been mysteriously sent him, and in 
which was a note as follows : " Ceci vous sera pre- 
cieux ; ou vous avertira hientot de quelle main it 
vient."^ 

The Duke, whose suspicions were aroused, told 
the King, who desired to see the snuff-box, and 
recognised it as one he had given to Madame 
Adelaide. It appeared that that young princess, 
then twenty years old, had taken a fancy to the 
garde-du-corps, who was very good-looking. The 
King gave him a pension of 4,000 louts to go away 
for a long time to the other end of the kingdom, 
and the affair was at an end.3 

Each of the princesses had her own household, 
and when mere children they gave balls and 
received the ambassadors. It was the custom that 
in the absence of the King, Queen, and Dauphin, the 
watchword should be given to the sentinel by the 
eldest princess present. On one occasion when 
this was Madame Adelaide, her governess, then the 
Duchesse de Tallard, complained to Cardinal Fleury 
that it was not proper for the princess, being a 
young girl, to whisper in a man's ear. The Cardinal 
spoke to the King, who decided that although 
Madame Adelaide must still give the consigne, she 

' The gardes-du-corps were all gentlemen. 

= This will be precious to you ; you will soon be told from whom 
it comes. 
3 " Journal d'Argenson," 




MADAME ADELAini-: 



To face page ijo 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 171 

should first ask her governess the name of which 
saint she was to say. 

Madame Victoire was very pretty, all the rest 
except the two eldest, were plain ; and her parents 
were delighted with her when she returned from the 
convent. The King and Dauphin went to meet her 
at Sceaux and took her to Versailles to the Queen, 
who embraced her tenderly. Neither she nor her 
younger sisters were half educated, but the Dauphin, 
who was very fond of them and had great influence 
over them persuaded them to study. 

When first Madame Victoire appeared at court 
her sisters, Henriette and Adelaide, and her brother 
the Dauphin, who were inseparable, were inclined to 
find her in the way and treat her as a child, but they 
soon became very fond of her, and she at once had 
her own household and took part in all the court 
gaieties as her sisters had done from the earliest age. 

The Queen, too indolent to write to them 
separately, on one occasion when she was at 
Compiegne and they at Versailles, wrote as 
follows : — 

" J^'einbrasse la gracieuse souverame,^ la sainte 
Henriette, la ridicule Adelaide la belle Victoire." 

Henriette and Adelaide were devoted to their old 
governess, the Duchesse de Ventadour. They got 
her an appartement next to theirs at Versailles, and 
in her salon, amongst her friends, they always spent 
an hour or two every evening after supper. Madame 
Henriette used to say it was the happiest part of her 
day. The Duchesse de Ventadour was an excellent 
woman, though she had been v^ihev galante'^ in her 

' " Mesdames de France " (Barthelemy). 



172 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

youth. She and her mother had brought up twenty- 
three " Children of France." The mother was said 
to have saved the hfe of Louis XV. by giving him a 
counter-poison. 



CHAPTER II 

The Greatest Names in France — The Marechale de Noailles — 
Strange proceedings — Death of the Dauphin — Of the Dauphine 
— Of the Queen — The Children of France — Louis XIV. and 
Louis XV. 

" '' I ^HE first family in France after the royal 
1 family, is evidently that of Lorraine ; the 
second without dispute that of Rohan, and the third 
La Tour d'Auvergne, or Bouillon-Turenne, after that 
La Tremoille,"! and then come a whole string of 
illustrious names, Mailly-de-Nesle, Crequy, Harcourt, 
Clermont-Tonnerre, Saint Jean, Thoury ; Sabran, 
La Rochefoucauld, Montmorency, Narbonne-Pelet, 
B^thune, Beauvoir, Beauffremont, Villeneuve (pre- 
mier Marquis de France), and many others. 

The writer of these fascinating memoirs of the 
time proceeds, after speaking of various noble names 
and regretting many that were extinct, such as 
Lusignan, Coucy, Xaintrailles, Chatillon, Mont- 
gommery, &c., to say, "One thing that has always 
given me the best opinion of the Noailles, is the 
protection they have never ceased to grant to all 
gentlemen who can prove that they have the honour 

^ " Crequy Souvenirs." 
173 



174 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

to belong to them, no matter what their position 
nor how distant the relationship." He (or she)i 
goes on to relate that a family of much less con- 
sideration, the Montmorin, being envious of the 
Noailles, asserted that they were not of the ancient 
noblesse, and pretended that they possessed a piece 
of tapestry on which a Noailles was depicted serving 
a Montmorin as a maitre d'hotel, with the date 1593. 

But as the Noailles were known to have possessed 
the estate and castle bearing their name in the 
twelfth century, and that in 1593 the Seigneur de 
Noailles was also Comte d'Ayen, and of much more 
consequence than the Montmorin, this spiteful fabri- 
cation fell to the ground. 

Nobody ever saw the tapestry in question because 
it did not exist, and Louis XV., speaking of the 
story, said scornfully, " Have there ever been such 
things as tapestries chez les Montmorin ? " 

For no one knew better than he did the histories 
and genealogies of his noblesse, and that he did not 
hesitate to explain them even when to his own dis- 
advantage, the following anecdote shows : — 

A discussion was going on about the great diffi- 
culty of proving a descent sufficiently pure to gain 
admittance into the order of the Knights of Malta. 

" You think me de tres bonne maison, don't you ? " 
said the King ; " well, I myself should find difficulty 
in entering that order, because in the female line I 
descend in the eighth degree from a procureur." 

' The fascinating volumes, called " Souvenirs de la Marquise de 
Crequy," are said not to be by any means entirely written by that 
celebrated woman. But they contain much curious information 
and many amusing anecdotes of that day, and present a vivid 
picture of the eighteenth century in France. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 175 

There was a general exclamation of dissent, but 
the King replied — 

" I am not joking, Messieurs, and I am going to 
give you the proof of what I say. Griff et, the pro- 
cureur, who was one of my ancestors, made a large 
fortune and gave his daughter in legitimate marriage 
to a Sieur Babou de la Bourdoisie, a ruined gentle- 
man, who wanted to regild his shield. From this 
union was born a daughter who was beautiful and 
rich, and married the Marquis de Coeuvres. Every- 
one knows that of la helle Gahrielle, daughter of this 
Marquis, and Henri IV., was born a son, Cesar de 
Vendome ; he had a daughter who married the 
Due de Nemours. The Duchesse de Nemours had 
a daughter who married the Duke of Savoy, and of 
this marriage was born Adelaide of Savoy, my 
mother, who was the eighth in descent of that 
genealogy. So after that you may believe whether 
great families are without alloy." ^ 

The Noailles, unlike most of the great French 
families, although they lived in Paris during the 
winter, spent a portion of their time on their estates, 
looked after their people, and occupied themselves 
with charities and devotion. The Marechal de 
Mouchy de Noailles, brother of the Due d'Ayen, 
even worked with his own hands amongst his 
peasants, while his wife and daughter, Mme. de 
Duras, shared his views and the life he led, as did 
his sons, the Prince de Poix and the Vicomte de 
Noailles, of whom more will be said later. 

With these and all the different relations of her 
husband, Mme. d'Ayen Hved in the greatest har- 
' " Salons d'Autref ois " (Bassanville). 



176 FtEROlNES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

mony, especially with his sister, the Duchesse de 
Lesparre, a calm, holy, angelic woman after her 
own heart. 

With his other sister, the Comtesse de Tesse, she 
was not at first so intimate. For Mme. de Tesse, a 
brisk, clever, amusing, original person, was not only 
a friend of Voltaire, and a diligent frequenter of the 
salons of the philosophers, wits, and encyclopaedists, 
but, although not going to their extreme lengths, 
was rather imbued with their opinions. 

But the most extraordinary and absurd person in 
the family was the Marechale de Noailles, mother of 
the Due d'Ayen, whose eccentricity was such that 
she might well have been supposed to be mad. It 
was, however, only upon certain points that her 
delusions were so singular — otherwise she seems to 
have been only an eccentric person, whose ideas of 
rank and position amounted to a mania. 

She had a large picture painted by Boucher, in 
which all her grandnephews were represented as 
Cupids, with nothing on but the Order of the Grand 
Cross of Malta, to show their right to belong to it. 
None of the family could look at or speak of it with 
gravity. But what was a more serious matter was 
her passion for stealing relics and objects of 
religious value. She even mixed one into a 
medicine for her son, the Due d'Ayen, when he 
had the measles. This had been lent her by 
some nuns, who of course could never get it back 
again. The nuns were very angry, so were the 
Archbishop of Paris and the Bishop of Chartres ; 
she had also stolen a beautiful chalice and they 
refused to give her the Holy Communion. Her 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU lyj 

family were much disturbed and had considerable 
trouble in gettmg her out of the difficulties and 
trying to hush up the affair. 

She also used to write letters to the holy Virgin, 
which she hid in a dovecote, in which she always 
found answers, supposed to be written by her priest. 
On one occasion she complained that the way of 
addressing her, " Ma cJiere Marechale," was not quite 
respectful in une petite hoiirgeoise de Nazereth, but 
observed that as she was the mother of our Saviour 
she must not be exacting ; besides, St. Joseph 
belonged to the royal house of David, and she 
added, " I have always thought St, Joseph must have 
belonged to a younger branch, sunk by injustice or 
misfortune." 

The Abbess of the Abbaye-aux-Bois, hearing that 
a pilgrim was in the habit of coming into the Abbey 
Church during dinner time when nobody was there, 
had her watched, and discovered that it was the 
Duchesse de Noailles, who would stand for an inter- 
minable time before a statue of the Virgin, talking 
and even seeming to dispute with it. 

One day she arrived, and after many bows and 
speeches began to address her prayers to the holy 
Virgin, and it appeared that what she asked for 
was in the first place a sum of eighteen hundred 
thousand livres for her husband, the Marechal, then 
the Order of the Garter, which he wanted because it 
was the only great order not possessed by his family, 
and finally the dipiome of a Prince of the Holy 
Roman Empire, because it was the only title he 
did not already bear. 

Suddenly a shrill voice was heard from the altar, 
13 



178 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

saying, " Mme. la Mar^chale, you will not have the 
eighteen hundred thousand francs that you ask for 
your husband, he has already one hundred thousand 
ecus de rente, and that is enough ; he is already 
Duke, Peer, Grandee of Spain, and Marshal of 
France ; he has already the orders of the Saint- 
Esprit and the Golden Fleece ; your family is 
loaded with the favours of the court ; if you are 
not content it is because it is impossible to satisfy 
you ; and I advise you to renounce becoming a 
princess of the Empire. Your husband will not 
have the garter of St. George either." 

The Marechale thought it was the Holy Child 
Himself speaking, and called out to Him to be 
quiet and let His Mother speak ; when a burst of 
laughter was heard from behind the altar. It was 
the Vicomte de Chabrillan, one of the Queen's 
pages, the little nephew of the coadjutrice of the 
Abbey, who had hidden there to play a trick. 

But fantastic and ridiculous as she was, the old 
Marechale went bravely to the scaffold years after- 
wards and died without fear. 

Her daughter-in-law seems to have got on very 
well with her, and with all her husband's family. 
Besides the Mar^chal de Mouchy, there was another 
brother, the Marquis de Noailles, and numbers of 
other relations, nearly all united by the strongest 
affection and friendship. 

The year 1765 witnessed the death of the 
Dauphin, and soon after that of the Dauphine, 
who was broken-hearted at his loss. The Dauphin 
died of a wasting illness, to the great grief of the 
King, who stood leaning against the doorway of 




COMTE DARTOIS, AFTERWARDS CHARLES X, 



To face f age ijg 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 179 

his son's room, holding by the hand the Due de 
Berri, until all was over. Then, turning away, he 
led the boy to the apartment of the Dauphine to 
acquaint her with what had happened, by giving 
the order to announce "the King and Monseigneur 
le Dauphin." I 

The Queen died three years later. Her death 
did not make much difference to the court, but 
devotion to religion in the royal family now 
seemed to be concentrated in the households of 
Mesdames. 

From the care of the Dauphin and Dauphine, 
who had exercised the most affectionate super- 
vision over them, their children passed to that of 
their grandfather, who, though he was fond of his 
daughters, cared very little about his grandchildren, 
never inquiring about their studies, conduct or 
habits. He only saw them at the hours required 
by etiquette, when he embraced them with cere- 
mony ; but he took care that they were treated 
with all the homage due to the "Children of 
France," and gave orders that their wishes were 
always to be gratified. 

The late Dauphin was said to have regarded with 
especial affection the unlucky Due de Berri, who 
was awkward, plain, brusque, and dull ; but the 
favourite of Louis XV. was his youngest grandson, 
the handsome, mischievous Comte d'Artois, in 
whom he recognised something of his own dis- 
position, and upon whom he was often seen to 
look with a smile of satisfaction. 

Between Mesdames and their nephews and nieces 
' There are one or two different accounts of this. 



i8o HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

there was always the most tender affection. They 
had adored their brother, were inconsolable for his 
loss, and devoted to his children, whom they spoilt 
to their hearts' content, giving them everything they 
liked, and allowing any amount of noise, dis- 
turbance, and mischief to go on in their presence. 
Madame Adelaide, who was extremely fond of the 
eldest boy, would say to him, " Talk at your ease, 
Berri, shout like your brother Artois. Make a 
noise, break my porcelaines, but make yourself 
talked about" 

Madame Victoire's favourite was the Comte de 
Provence. She found that he had the most sense 
and brains, and prophesied that he would repair 
the faults his brothers would commit. 

The King, after the death of Mme. de Pompadour, 
of whom he had become tired, lived for some years 
without a reigning favourite, in spite of the attempts 
of various ladies of the court to attain to that post. 
His life was passed in hunting, in the festivities of 
the court, and in a constant succession of intrigues 
and liaisons for which the notorious Pare aux cerfs 
was a sort of preserve. His next and last recognised 
and powerful mistress was Mme. Du Barry. 

Amongst other contrasts to be remarked between 
Louis XIV. and Louis XV., was the opposite way 
in which they treated their numerous illegitimate 
children. 

Those of the Grand Monarque were brought 
up in almost royal state, magnificently dowered, 
raised to a rank next to the princes of the blood, 
amongst whom they were generally married, and with 
whom they kept up constant quarrels and rivalry. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU i8i 

The King regarded them with nearly, if not quite, 
as great affection as his legitimate children, and even 
tried, though in vain, to alter the laws of succession 
in their favour, and allow them to inherit the crown 
failing his lawful issue. 

This, however, neither the Princes of the blood, 
the nobles, nor the French nation would stand, and 
the project had to be relinquished ; but the rapacity 
and outrageous arrogance and pretensions of " les 
bdtards," as they were called, had aroused such 
irritation and hatred that Louis XV. took care to 
go into the opposite extreme. Unlike his pre- 
decessor, he cared nothing for the children of his 
innumerable liaisons, which were of a lower and 
more degraded type than those of his great-grand- 
father. He seldom recognised or noticed these 
children, made only a very moderate provision for 
them, and allowed them to be of no importance 
whatever. 



CHAPTER III 

The Duchesse d'Ayen — Birth and death of her sons— Her five 
daughters — Their education at home — Saintly life of the 
Duchess — Marriage of her eldest daughter to the Vicomte 
de Noailles — Of the second to the Marquis de la Fayette — 
Of the Dauphin to the Archduchess Marie Antoinette — The 
Comtesse de Noailles — Marriages of the Comtes de Provence 
and d'Artois to the Princesses of Sardinia — Death of Louis XV. 
— Unhappy marriage of the third daughter of the Due 
d'Ayen to the Vicomte du Roure — Afterw^ards to Vicomte 
de Thesan — Paulette and Rosalie de Noailles — Adrienne 
de la Fayette — Radical ideas of the Vicomte de Noailles 
and Marquis de la Fayette — Displeasure of the family and 
the King — La Fayette and de Noailles join the American 
insurgents — Grief and heroism of Adrienne — Marriage of 
Pauline to the Marquis de Montagu. 

TWO years after her marriage the Duchesse 
d'Ayen had a son who, to her great grief, 
Hved only a few months, and whose death was 
followed by the birth of Louise, called Mile, 
de Noailles, Adrienne Mile. d'Ayen, Therese Mile. 
d'Epernon, Pauline Mile, de Maintenon, and 
Rosalie Mile, de Montclar. 

In 1768, a year after the birth of her youngest 
girl, she had another boy, and at the same time was 
dangerously ill of small-pox. The Duke, in terror 

for her life, would not allow her to be told what was 

182 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 183 

the matter, and even insisted on the children all 
being admitted to her room, for fear of arousing 
her suspicions and alarming her. However, she 
recovered and none of them took it. The baby 
lived and for some time appeared quite well ; 
though after a few months it began to fade, and 
soon died of consumption. 

This was a severe disappointment to the Duke, 
who had already begun to occupy himself with his 
son's future, but the Duchess, whose saintly mind 
had been tormented with misgivings about the 
future life of the boy whose prospects then seemed 
so brilliant and so full of temptations, and who 
did not probably consider the Duke, her husband, 
a very promising or trustworthy guide and example, 
resigned herself to the loss of the heir, whom she 
had even in her prayers entreated God to take out 
of this world rather than allow him to be tainted by 
the vice and corruption with which she foresaw he 
would be surrounded in it. 

She considered that the death of the child was the 
answer to her prayer ; never, from the moment he 
began to ail, having the least hope of his recovery, 
subduing her grief with all the strength of her 
character and religious fervour, and devoting her- 
self entirely to the care and education of her 
daughters. 

They were not, according to the general custom, 
sent to a convent, but brought up at home under her 
constant supervision. The frequent absence of the 
Duke, who was usually either at Versailles or with 
the army,i left them to her undivided care. They 

' The Due d'Ayen was in 1755 Colonel of the regiment of 



i84 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

had an excellent governess, but the Duchess herself 
superintended their studies, they went to mass with 
her every morning at the Jacobins or St. Roch, 
dined with her at three o'clock, and spent always 
some time afterwards in her room, which was 
very large, was hung with crimson and gold 
damask, and contained an immense bed. 

The Duchess sat by the fire in her armchair, 
surrounded by her books, her work, and her 
gold snuff-box ; the children sat round her, also 
reading, working, or talking of anything that 
interested them. 

Every now and then they made excursions to 
Meudon, where they rode upon donkeys, or they 
visited their grandfathers, M. d'Aguesseau, at 
Fresne, and the Due de Noailles at Saint Ger- 
main-en-Laye, when they delighted in playing 
and wandering in the forest. 

Often in after years did they look back to the 
happy, sheltered childhood that passed too quickly 
away, and contrast its peace, security, and magnifi- 
cence with the sorrows, dangers, and hardships of 
their later lives. 

They were all, during their early youth, rather 
afraid of their father, of whom they saw so little 
that he was a stranger to them in comparison with 
the mother they all adored, who, exalted as were her 
religious principles, austere and saintly her rule of 
life, yet knew how to gain her children's confidence 

Noailles — cavalry raised by his grandfather at his own expense 
during the War of the Spanish Succession ; he had made four 
campaigns in the Seven Years' War, and was now Lieut.-General 
and Captain of the Gardes-du-corfs. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 185 

and affection, and understood thoroughly their dif- 
ferent characters and tendencies. People wondered 
at the goodness of Mme. d'Ayen's children, and it 
was remarked that the Duchess "had brought up 
a company of angels." 

Louise, whose fate was so closely linked with her 
mother's, was one of those gentle, saintly characters, 
who scarcely seem to belong to this earth ; whose 
thoughts, interests, and aspirations are in another 
world. But perhaps the most striking amongst 
them was Adrienne, the second girl, who besides 
being very handsome, was the most intellectual and 
talented of the sisters, and of whom the Duchess 
was as proud as the severity of her ideas permitted 
her to be. 

While Louise and Adrienne were still children 
projects of marriage for them were, of course, 
discussed, and they were only about thirteen and 
fourteen when two sons-in-law were approved of 
and accepted by their parents, with the condition 
that the proposed arrangements should not be 
communicated to the young girls for a year, during 
which they would be allowed often to meet and 
become well acquainted with their future husbands. 

The one proposed for Louise was the second son 
of her uncle, the Marechal Mouchy de Noailles, a 
lad of sixteen, who bore the title of Vicomte de 
Noailles, and was in rank, fortune, and character an 
extremely suitable marriage for her. 

For Adrienne, the Marquis de la Fayette, a boy 
who when first the marriage was thought of by the 
respective families was not fifteen years old, whose 
father was dead, who had been brought up by his 



i86 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

aunt in the country, and who was very rich. He 
was plain, shy, awkward, and had red hair, but 
he and Adrienne fell violently in love with each 
other during the time of probation. Louise and her 
cousin had, of course, always known each other, 
and now that they were thrown constantly 
together they were delighted with the arrangements 
made for them. 

The marriages accordingly took place when 
Louise was sixteen and Adrienne fifteen years 
old. 

Their aunt, the Marechale de Mouchy, called then 
the Comtesse de Noailles, was about this time 
appointed first lady of honour to the Archduchess 
Marie Antoinette of Austria, whose approaching 
marriage with the Dauphin was the great event 
of the day ; and was sent with the other distin- 
guished persons selected to meet her at the frontier. 
This alliance was very unpopular with the royal 
family and court, who disliked Austria and declared 
that country to be the enemy of France, to whom her 
interests were always opposed. Madame Adelaide 
especially, made no secret of her displeasure, and 
when M. Campan came to take her orders before 
setting off for the frontier with the household of the 
Dauphin, she said that she disapproved of the 
marriage of her nephew with the Archduchess, and 
if she had any order to give it would not be to fetch 
an Austrian. 

The Comtesse de Noailles was a most unfortunate 
choice to have made for the post in question ; for 
although a woman of the highest character, religious, 
charitable, and honourable, she was so stiff, precise, 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 187 

and absolutely the slave of every detail of court 
etiquette that she only tormented and estranged the 
young girl, who was ready to be conciliated, and 
whom she might have influenced and helped. The 
Dauphine, however, an impetuous, thoughtless girl 
of fifteen, accustomed to the freedom of her own 
family life at the court of Vienna, hated and ridi- 
culed the absurd restrictions of the French Court, 
called the Countess " Madame l' Etiquette," and took 
her own way. 

The ill-luck which seemed to follow the Dauphin 
had not forsaken him ; a terrible catastrophe 
marked the fetes given in honour of his wedding. 
Some scaffolding in the place Louis XV. caught 
fire. The flames spread with fearful rapidity, a 
scene of panic and horror ensued, hundreds were 
burned or trampled to death by the frantic horses 
or maddened crowd ; and with this terrible 
calamity began the married life of the boy and girl, 
the gloom and darkness of whose destiny it 
seemed to foreshadow. ^ 

The Comtes de Provence and d'Artois were 
married to the two daughters of the King of 
Sardinia, to whose eldest son the Princess Clotilde 
was betrothed. 

The King associated all his grandchildren with 
Mme. Du Barry just as he had his daughters with the 
Duchesse de Chateauroux and her sisters de Nesle, 

* The Empress Maria Theresa once asked a person who had the 
reputation of having second sight to tell her the destiny of this, 
her youngest child. He looked at her, suddenly hesitated, turned 
pale, and on the Empress repeating her question, he replied, with 
much agitation, " Madame, there is a cross for every one to 
bear." 



i88 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

and affairs went on at court much in the usual way 
until, in 1774, he caught the small-pox in one of 
his intrigues and died, leaving a troubled and 
dangerous inheritance to the weak, helpless, 
vacillating lad, who had neither brains to direct, 
energy to act, or strength to rule. 

In 1779 Mile. d'Epernon, third daughter of the 
Due d'Ayen, married the Vicomte du Roure. She 
was a gentle, affectionate girl of less decided 
character than the others, and less is known of her, 
for her life was a short one passed in domestic 
retirement. This marriage was unhappy, as the 
Vicomte cared very little for his wife. However, he 
died in two years, and in 1784 she married the 
Vicomte de Thesan, an ardent Royalist who was 
devoted to her.^ 

Married or single, the five sisters were all strongly 

' In the souvenirs of the Marquise de Crequy the following 
paragraph occurs : — " My Aunt de la Tremoille was the last of the 
ancient house of La Fayette, which must not be confounded with that 
of the philosophic, republican Marquis, who has just been fighting 
in America. Marie Madeline, heiress and Marquise de la Fayette, 
Duchesse de la Tremoille and Thouars, died in 1717 at the age of 
twenty-eight ; and it was at this time that a gentleman of 
Auvergne named Motier took it into his head to adjust the name of 
La Fayette, which had just become extinct, to the fine name of 
Motier, which was that of his family. He gave as his reason that 
several persons of the true house of La Fayette had borne the 
name of Moztier or Moustier in the seventeenth century. . . . The 
Marechal de Noailles told me that Louis XV. had said to him 
apropos of the genealogy of this pretended Marquis : ' Have you 
read the romance of the Motier family ? It will never equal that of 
Mme. de la Fayette ' (author of ' La Princesse de Cleres '). We 
could never understand how the MM. de Noailles could give one of 
their daughters to that little Motier ; but they assured us that he 
was gentleman enough not to be hanged, very rich, and a very 
good fellow." 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 189 

attached to one another. The married ones, were a 
great deal with their family, either at Paris or 
Versailles, while Pauline and Rosalie, between 
whom there was only a year's difference, were 
inseparable. 

The real names of Mile, de Maintenon were Anne 
Paule Dominique, which, sonorous as they sound, 
were those of a poor old man and woman of the 
labouring class whom the Duchess had chosen to be 
her daughter's godfather and godmother. 

Pauline was very pretty, a brunette with dark eyes 
and masses of dark hair, of an impetuous, affec- 
tionate, hasty disposition, which she was always 
trying to correct according to the severe, almost 
ascetic, counsels of her mother and younger sister, 
whom one cannot but fancy, though equally admir- 
able, was perhaps less charming. 

Rosalie was rather plain, with irregular but 
expressive features, small eyes and a chin inclined 
to be square and decided ; she was precocious for her 
age, but good-tempered, calm, and possessing great 
strength of character. 

She married, in 1788, the Marquis de Grammont. 

The anxieties and sorrows of life were already 
gathering round the girls thrust so early into the 
burden and heat of the day. 

Adrienne, who with more intellectual gifts had 
also more human passion in her nature than her 
saintly elder sister, adored her husband, under 
whose shy, awkward manner she had discovered all 
sorts of excellent qualities, an enthusiastic love of 
liberty, talents and aspirations with which she 
ardently sympathised, 



I90 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

His devotion to herself was only interfered with 
by his political ideas ; but it soon appeared that this 
interference was a very serious matter, for in 1777 
he announced his intention of going to America to 
fight for the colonies then in rebellion against 
England. 

Of course this spread consternation in the family 
of Noailles, usually so united that nothing of 
importance was ever done by them without a family 
council. And it was certainly irritating enough, that 
for no reason whatever except his own fancy he 
should desert his wife who adored him, who had 
one child and was about to have another, the 
management of his estates and all his duties in his 
own country, and exile himself for years to fight 
against a friendly nation and meddle in a quarrel 
with which neither he nor France had anything 
whatever to do. Besides, his example and influence 
had induced his brother-in-law, the Vicomte de 
Noailles, and his cousin, the Comte de S6gur, to 
adopt the same plans. All three young men 
declared they would go to America to fight for 
liberty. 

The King heard of it, and formally forbade them 
to go, which, as far as de Noailles and de S6gur 
were concerned, put a stop to the plan for the 
present. But La Fayette was his own master and 
had plenty of money, so he made the excuse of 
going to England with his cousin, the Prince de 
Poix, and on his way back escaped in a Spanish 
ship and landed in Spain en route for America. 

The Due d'Ayen got a lettre de cachet from the 
King to stop him, but it was too late. Letters were 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 191 

sent by the family to say that Adrienne was very ill, 
and by this he was so far influenced that he set out 
on his journey homewards, but finding from other 
letters he received that she was in no danger at all, 
he turned back again. 

Adrienne had never opposed his going. Divided 
between her grief at their separation, her sympathy 
with his dreams and ideas, and her dislike to oppose 
his wishes, she, though nearly heartbroken, pretended 
to be cheerful, stifled her tears, and forced herself to 
smile and laugh, though her love for him was such 
that she said she felt as if she would faint when he 
left her even for a short time, a few hours. 

The years of separation while he was in America 
were most trying, and her sister, Louise de Noailles, 
shared her anxiety, as the Vicomte de Noailles and 
Comte de S6gur joined the Americans in 1779. 

The high rank, great connections, and splendid 
fortunes of the daughters of the Due d'Ayen caused 
them to be much sought after, and many brilliant 
marriages were suggested for Pauline, amongst which 
they chose a young officer of the regiment of Artois, 
proposed to them by a relation of his, the Princesse 
de Chimay, daughter of the Due de Fitzjames. The 
young Marquis Joachim de Montagu was then nine- 
teen, had served in the army of Spain, and belonged 
to one of the mo: t ancient families of Auvergne. 

All the preliminaries were arranged by the families 
without anything being said upon the subject to the 
proposed bride, nor probably to the bridegroom 
either, and when everything was settled it was 
decided that now nothing was left to do but "to 
consult the personal inclinations of the young 



192 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

people," in preparation for which Pauline was 
informed in one of the usual family councils of 
her approaching introduction to her fiance. 

One wonders what would have happened if the 
young people had not happened to like each other 
after all these arrangements ; but it appears to have 
been taken for granted that they would not be so 
inconsiderate as to disappoint the expectations of 
their relations, who had taken so much trouble. ' 
They would have felt like an Italian lady of our 
own time, who, in reply to the question of an 
English friend as to what would happen should a 
young girl of her family not like the husband 
selected for her, exclaimed in a tone of horror — 

" Not like the husband her grandmamma has 
chosen ! " 

Her elder sisters, who knew all about it, were 
much amused at the embarrassment of Pauline 
when this announcement was made to her. Com- 
pletely taken by surprise, she did not like even to 
ask questions about the Marquis de Montagu, but 
her mother reassured her, told her everything she 
wished to know, and said that the young man and 
his father were coming to dine next day. 

Accordingly at seven o'clock the Due and Duchesse 
d'Ayen were seated in their salon with Pauline and 
Rosalie, dressed alike in blue and white satin ; 
Pauline, who had not slept all night, very pale and 
dreadfully frightened, especially when the sound of 
a carriage was heard in the courtyard, and a few 
minutes afterwards M. le Vicomte de Beaune and 
M. le Marquis de Montagu were announced. 

Neither of the young people dared speak to or 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 193 

look at the other, but at last M. de Beaune ^ got up 
to be shown a portrait of Washington by de Noailles 
and La Fayette, who were present, and she took the 
opportunity of looking at him. He was not hand- 
some, but had an attractive face, and at the end of 
the evening she told her mother that she was quite 
willing to marry him.^ 

The wedding took place in the -spring of 1783, 
before her seventeenth birthday. The presents and 
corbeille were magnificent, and every day, between 
the signing of the contract and the marriage, 
Pauline, in a splendid and always a different dress, 
received the visits of ceremony usual on these occa- 
sions. As her family and her husband's were related 
to or connected with every one of the highest rank , 
in France, all the society of Paris passed through 
the hotel de Noailles on those interminable even- 
ings, which began at six o'clock and ended with a 
great supper, while Pauline sat by her mother, and 
was presented to every one who came. 

The young Marquis and Marquise de Montagu 
remained for two days at the hotel de Noailles after 
the marriage had been celebrated at St. Roch, and 
then Pauline, with many tears, got into the splendid 
blue and gold herline which was waiting for her, and 
drove to the hotel Montagu, where her father-in-law 
met her at the foot of the great staircase, and con- 
ducted her to the charming rooms prepared for her. 

• By a family arrangement the father was called Vicomte de 
Beaune. 
' Anne-Paule-Dominique de Noailles, Marquise de Montagu. 



14 



CHAPTER IV 

The Marquis de Montagu rejoins his regiment — Life of Pauline at 
the hotel de Montagu — Affection of her father-in-law — Brilliant 
society — Story of M. de Continges — Death of Pauline's child — 
Marriage of Rosalie to Marquis de Grammont — Birth of Pauline's 
daughters — The court of Louis XVL — The Royal Family — 
Dissensions at court— Madame Sophie and the Storm — Extra- 
vagance of the Queen and Comte d'Artois — The Comte d'Artois 
and Mile. Duthe — Scene with the King — Le petit Trianon — 
The Palace of Marly — A sinister guest. 

AT the end of seven weeks her husband went 
back to rejoin his regiment, and Pauline was 
left with her father-in-law and her new aunt, Mme. de 
Bouzolz, a very young, lively woman, whose husband 
had also just returned to the army. Both were very 
kind and fond of her, but their ideas were not so 
strict as those of the Duchesse d'Ayen. 

Mme. de Bouzolz delighted in novels, balls, and 
all the amusements natural to her age ; was affec- 
tionate, good-hearted, rather thoughtless, but with 
no harm in her. She soon became devoted to 
Pauline, and fell a great deal under her influence. 

M. de Beaune was an excellent man, rather hasty- 
tempered, but generous, honourable, delighted with 
his daughter-in-law, and most kind and indulgent to 

her. He took the deepest interest in her health, her 

194 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 19S 

dress, and her success in society, into which he 
constantly went, always insisting upon her accom- 
panying him. 

And society was very fascinating just then : all the 
stately charm and grace of the old regime mingled 
with the interest and excitement of the new. 

Pauline never cared much for society, and her 
tastes were not sufficiently intellectual to enable 
her to take much part in the brilliant conversa- 
tion or to enter with enthusiasm into the political 
ideas and principles discussed at the various houses 
to which she went with Mme. de Bouzolz, who did 
not trouble herself about philosophy or " ideas " ; 
and M. de Beaune, who was a strong Conservative, 
and held revolutionary notions in abhorrence. 

They frequented the society of the Queen, went 
to balls, theatricals, and to suppers given by the 
espriis forts, such as the Marechale de Luxembourg, 
the old Duchesse de la Valliere, a great friend of 
M. de Beaune, who was a Noailles, and a contem- 
porary of Louis XIV.i ; also of the Marechale de 
Mirepoix, a leading member of society. 

An amusing anecdote is related by Mme. de 
Bassanville^ concerning the marriage of a certain 
Mile, de Mirepoix, who belonged to that family, 
but apparently to a younger and poorer branch of it. 

The Marquis de Continges, a dissipated roue of 
the court of Louis XV., an encyclopaedist and friend 
of Voltaire, finding in the reign of Louis XV L that 
he was getting old, thought he would marry. He 

' She died May 11, 1784, at the age of ninety-nine years, seven 
months, and six days. 
' " Salons d'Autrefois." 



196 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

was noble, rich, and a good parti ; but after making 
many inquiries he could not hear of any one he 
especially fancied. One evening he appeared at a 
great party given by the Princesse de Lamballe, at 
which every one of importance was present, dressed 
in black velvet, with lace ruffles, a sword by his 
side, and in his hand an embroidered hat full of 
mysterious tickets. 

" What is that, M. le Marquis ? " asked his hostess. 

" I have come to consult Destiny in your temple, 
Madame, if your Highness permits," said he with 
a bow. 

" Have you found means to conciliate her ? " 
asked the Princess amidst the laughter aroused 
by this speech. 

" I hope so, Madame. In my hat are 100,000 
livres de rente, a Marquisate, and a dowry, besides 
my heart and my hand. Thus I put myself into 
a lottery : here is a heap of tickets of which only 
one is black, the winning one. So let all the 
young ladies who wish to marry come and 
choose one." 

All the young girls, laughing and treating it as 
a capital joke, crowded round to draw. One of 
the last drew the black ; it was Mile, de Mirepoix, 
a dark, handsome girl- of five-and-twenty, who was 
poor and had not yet found a husband. 

" Mademoiselle," said the Marquis, " what you 
have won there is myself, your very humble 
servant, who, if you will allow him, will become 
your husband. I put myself into my hat, with all 
my fortune ; accept both, for they are yours." 

Mile, de Mirepoix thought at first that he was 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 197 

joking, but finding the transaction was serious, 
fainted with joy. They were married and belonged 
to the Queen's intimate circle, but the union did 
not turn out any more happily than might have 
been expected. Soon the Revolution swept all 
away ; they emigrated, but not together ; he went 
to Germany, she to England. When afterwards 
he came to London, his wife went to Italy. 

Pauline went out a great deal, more as a duty 
than a pleasure. What she really cared for most 
were the interviews with her mother twice a week, 
and the time she snatched to be with her sisters 
when she could. 

When Mme. de Bouzolz had a baby, she nursed 
her devotedly, and took the deepest interest in the 
child. But the height of bliss seemed- to be attained 
when soon after she had a daughter herself, with 
which she was so enraptured and about which she 
made such a fuss, that one can well imagine how 
tiresome it must have been for the rest of the 
family. She thought of nothing else, would go 
nowhere, except to the wedding of her sister, 
Mme. du Roure, with M. de Th^san ; and when 
in the following spring the poor little thing died 
after a short illness, she fell into a state of grief 
and despair which alarmed the whole family, who 
found it impossible to comfort her. She would 
sit by the empty cradle, crying, and making draw- 
ings in pastel of the child from memory after its 
portrait had been put away out of her sight. But 
her unceasing depression and lamentation so 
worried M. de Beaune that, seeing this, she left off 
talking about it, and he, hoping she was becoming 



198 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

more resigned to the loss, proposed that she should 
begin again to go into society after more than a 
year of retirement. She consented, to please him, 
for as he would not leave her his life was, of course, 
very dull. But the effort and strain of it made her 
so ill that the next year she was obliged to go to 
Bagneres de Luchon. M. de Beaune, who was 
certainly a devoted father-in-law, went with her. 
Her mother and eldest sister came to visit her 
there ; her husband travelled three hundred leagues, 
although he was ill at the time, to see how she 
was getting on, and in the autumn she was much 
better, and able to go to the wedding of her 
favourite sister, Rosalie, with the Marquis de 
Grammont. 

In 1786-8 she had two daughters, No6mi and 
Clotilde, soon after whose birth the family had to 
mourn the loss of Mme. de Th^san, who died 
before she was five - and - twenty, and who was 
certainly, as events soon proved, taken away from 
the evil to come. 

The same may be said of Pauline's young aunt, 
Mme. de Bouzolz, who died the same year. 

M. de Montagu, remembering his wife's pro- 
ceedings with the former baby, insisted upon the 
others being brought up in the country, and Pauline 
again went out with her father-in-law, receiving a 
great deal of admiration which delighted him, but 
about which she cared very little. She was very 
pretty, considered very like what the Duchess, her 
mother, had been at her age, and perfectly at her 
ease in society, even when very young, and timid 
with her new relations ; not being the least nervous 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 199 

during her presentation at Versailles, which was 
rather a trying and imposing ceremony. 

People were presented first to the King, then to 
the Queen, in different salons; of course magni- 
ficently dressed. The King, now that he was 
Louis XVI., very often did not speak but always 
made a friendly, gracious gesture, and kissed the 
lady presented, on one cheek only if she was a 
simple femme de qualiU ; on both if she was a 
duchess or grande d'Espagne, or bore the name of 
one of the families who possessed the hereditary 
right to the honours of the Louvre and the title of 
cousin of the King. 

Soon after his accession the young Marquise de 
Pracontal, who was very pretty, very devote, and 
very timid, was presented to Louis XV L, who 
kissed her with such fervour on one cheek that 
she was dreadfully embarrassed and frightened ; 
and was just going to kiss her other cheek, when 
the Due d'Aumont threw himself between them, 
exclaiming in consternation that she was not a 
duchess. 

When presented to the Queen it was customary 
to bow low enough to appear to kneel in order to 
take up the edge of her dress, but her Majesty never 
allowed that to be carried to the lips of the lady 
presented, but let it fall with a slight movement of 
her fan, which Marie Antoinette always executed 
with singular grace. A duchess or grande d'Espagne 
then seated herself before the Queen, but only for 
a moment, a privilege known as the tabouret. After 
retiring, of course backwards, with a mantle the 
train of which had to be eight ells on the ground, 



200 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

people went to be presented to all the other princes 
and princesses of the royal family. 

It consisted, at the death of Louis XV., of the 
King, aged nineteen ; the Queen, eighteen ; the 
Comte de Provence, eighteen ; the Comtesse de 
Provence, twenty ; the Comte d'Artois, seventeen ; 
and the Comtesse d'Artois, eighteen. Of Mesdames 
Adelaide, Victoire, Sophie, and Louise, the last of 
whom was a Carmelite nun, and whose ages were 
from thirty-eight to forty-three. 

Mesdames de France were in many respects 
excellent women : religious, charitable to the poor, 
strict in their duties. The three elder ones had 
stayed by their father in his fatal illness, by which 
Adelaide and Sophie had caught the small-pox. 
Louise was a saintly person ; and all of them were 
devoted to their family and friends. But they were 
narrow-minded, obstinate, and prejudiced to an 
extraordinary degree, and they allowed their 
hatred of the house of Austria to include their 
niece, the young Queen ; their unjust animosity 
against whom was the cause of incalculable 
mischief. 

From her first arrival they set themselves against 
the Dauphine, they exaggerated the faults and follies 
which were only those of a thoughtless, wilful child 
of fifteen, and by their unjustifiable spite gave 
colour to the infamous and false reports circulated 
by her enemies. They tried to sow dissension 
between her and the Comtesse de Provence, hoping 
by means of his wife to engage their second nephew 
in a party against her. The fault was chiefly that 
of Madame Adelaide, for Madame Victoire was far 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 201 

more gentle and easygoing, and Madame Sophie so 
dreadfully shy and nervous that she was incapable 
of taking a leading part in anything. 

She was so terribly frightened at a thunderstorm 
that once when visiting the Comte and Comtesse 
de Provence, as she stayed rather long and they 
wanted to go out, the Count had some heavy thing 
rolled on the floor of the room above, which she 
took for distant thunder and hurried away to reach 
home before the storm. 

The young princes and princesses, however, in 
spite of the disputes, jealousies, and quarrels that 
occurred amongst them, agreed in amusing them- 
selves very well together. They gave balls, theatri- 
cals 3.nd fetes of all kinds ; the Queen was very fond 
of cards, and gambling went on to an extent which, 
with the money spent on fetes and in other still 
more reprehensible ways, especially by the Comte 
d'Artois, though it could have passed as a matter of 
course under former reigns, now increased the irri- 
tation and discontent which every year grew stronger 
and more dangerous. For the distress amongst the 
lower orders was terrible ; for years marriages and 
the birthrate had been decreasing in an alarming 
manner ; the peasants declaring that it was no use 
bringing into the world children to be as miserable 
as themselves. 

The young princes and princesses could not 
understand that the resources of the State were not 
inexhaustible, or that they might not draw whatever 
they liked from the Treasury when they had spent 
all their own allowances. 

The Comte d'Artois had an affair with MUe. 



202 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Duth6, who had ruined numbers of people, and 
thought her liaison with a fits de France would open 
the Treasury to her rapacity. She contracted enor- 
mous debts at all the great shops in Paris, and very 
soon bills for plate, pictures, jewels, furniture, 
dresses, &c., &c., poured in upon the Prince, who, 
finding himself utterly unable to pay them, sent for 
Turgot, then Controleur-General, and asked him to 
get him out of the difficulty. 

Turgot replied coldly that as the money in the 
treasury did not belong to him, he could not dispose 
of it without the King's permission. 

The Comte d'Artois flew into a passion with 
Turgot, who went to the King and laid the matter 
before him. 

Louis XVI., the only one of the family who saw 
the necessity of order and economy, was furious, 
and declared that the treasury of the State should 
not be squandered to satisfy the fancies of a prosti- 
tute, that the Comte d'Artois must manage as he 
could, that he forbade Turgot to give him the 
money, and that the Comte d'Artois was to be sent 
to him at once. 

The whole affair was an exact specimen of the 
mingled extravagance, folly, vice, and weakness 
which were leading to the terrible retribution so 
swiftly approaching. 

There was a violent scene between the two 
brothers, the Comte d'Artois threatened to borrow 
the money he could not extort, and the King, after 
reproaching him for his conduct, ordered him to 
his own apartment, intending to punish him by 
means of a kttre de cachet. But then, as always, 




MADAME SOPmE 



Tofacepa^e 203 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 203 

the irresolution and weakness of Louis XVI. more 
than counterbalanced his good intentions. 

The Comte d'Artois appealed to the Queen and 
the Comte de Provence, who went to intercede 
for him with the King. Louis, irritated by the 
vehemence with which Marie Antoinette took the 
part of the Comte d'Artois, asked her whether she 
knew what he wanted the money for, and on her 
replying that she did not, proceeded to tell her. 
The Queen looked thunderstruck, gave way to a 
torrent of indignation against the conduct of the 
Comte d'Artois, and left the room. But Louis, 
instead of abiding by the decision he had so 
vehemently announced, allowed himself to be per- 
suaded by the Comte de Provence and his aunts to 
revoke everything he had said, and do everything 
he had inveighed against. The Comte d'Artois was 
not punished and the disgraceful debts were paid. 

The King had given le petit Trianon to the Queen, 
who delighted in the absence of restraint and 
formality with which she could amuse herself there, 
and if she had been satisfied with the suppers and 
picnics with her family and friends in the little 
palace and its shady gardens, it would have been 
better for her and for every one. But she gave fetes 
so costly that the King on one occasion, hearing 
that he was to be invited to one that was to cost 
100,000 francs, refused to go, and on the Queen, 
much hurt at his decision, assuring him that it 
would only cost a mere trifle, he told her to get the 
estimates and look at them. However, as usual, he 
was persuaded to yield and be present at ihe fete. 

Then the Comte d'Artois insisted on having a 



204 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

place of the same kind, and on its being made and 
finished in a week ; which at enormous expense he 
succeeded in accomplishing, besides winning from 
the Queen a bet of 100,000 francs made upon the 
subject. 

The Comte d'Artois did not hesitate to give 
1,700 louis for a race horse, or to lose four or 
five hundred thousand francs in an evening at 
cards; and the Emperor Joseph II., when under 
the name of Count von Falkenstein he paid the 
celebrated visit to France and his sister, wherein he 
made himself so disagreeable and gave so much 
offence, was well justified in the contemptuous 
sarcasm with which he spoke of the squandering 
of the revenues in racing and gambling. 

It was, perhaps, worst of all at Marly, beautiful 
Marly, so soon to be utterly swept away ; for there 
such was the relaxation of etiquette that any 
decently-dressed person might enter the salon and 
join in the play, with the permission of the ladies 
of high rank to whom they gave part of their 
winnings. People came there in crowds, and on 
one occasion the Comte de Tavannes, coming up 
with a look of consternation to the Comte de 
Provence, whispered — 

" Ah ! Monseigneur ! What an indignity ! Do 
you see that man near that console ? a man in a pink 
coat with a waistcoat of blue and silver, wearing 
spectacles ? " 

" Yes ; and there is nothing in his appearance to 
justify your horror." 

" You don't know who the person is, Monseigneur, 
or your hair would stand on end." 








^^ 



'^ 



■i^ 



N^^ 



'4\ 



V 












^ 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 205 



" Can it be the 



"The executioner ? You have guessed it, Mon- 
seigneur, and that fearful name explains the state of 
mind in which you see me." 

" Do not say a word to any one," said the Prince. 
" I will undertake to turn out the insolent fellow 
without making a scandal, unless you will do it 
yourself." 

Tavannes drew back, and just then, seeing Prince 
Maurice de Montbarrey, Colonel of the Cent-Sinsses 
of his guard, the Comte de Provence sent him to 
tell the man to go. Saint-Maurice obeyed, without 
knowing who the man was, and the Comte de Pro- 
vence saw him turn pale and cast a terrible look at 
Saint-Maurice. He retired in silence, and not many 
years afterwards Saint-Maurice fell under his hand. 



CHAPTER V 

Weak character of Louis XVI. — Quarrels at Court — Mme. de 
Tesse — Forebodings of Mme. d'Ayen — La Fayette — Saintly 
lives of Pauline and her sisters — Approach of the Revolu- 
tion — The States-General — Folly of Louis XVL — Scenes at 
Versailles — Family political quarrels — Royalist and Radical — 
Death of Pauline's youngest child. 

THERE was a striking contrast between the 
position of Louis XVI. and that of his pre- 
decessors on the throne of France. 

Everybody was afraid of Louis XIV., and even of 
Louis XV. At any rate, they ruled. They com- 
manded, and their subjects obeyed. 

But nobody was afraid of Louis XVI., and when 
he did command he was by no means sure of 
obedience. He had ascended the throne with the 
most excellent intentions, abolished all sorts of 
abuses, and wanted to be the father of his people. 
But a father who cannot be respected is very likely 
not to be loved, and a ruler who cannot inspire fear 
cannot inspire respect either, and is not so fit to be 
a leader as one who possesses fewer virtues and 
more strength and courage. 

When Louis XV. remarked that it was a pity the 
Comte de Provence was not the eldest of his grand- 
sons, that he knew what he was saying is evident 

306 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 207 

from the fact that though all three of them inherited 
the crown, the Comte de Provence was the only 
one who succeeded in keeping it. 

Louis XVI. was the most unsuitable person to 
rule over the French, a nation more than any other 
alive to, and abhorrent of, any suspicion of ridicule 
or contempt. And to them the virtues and faults of 
Louis were alike ridiculous. When he interfered in 
the love affairs of the Prince de Conde, and ordered 
the Princesse de Monaco to retire into a convent, 
the Prince de Conde became his enemy, and people 
laughed. When he spent hours and hours shut up 
alone making keys and locks they shrugged their 
shoulders, and asked if that was a diversion for the 
descendant of Henri IV. and Louis le Grand. 

Besides the conflict between the new and old 
ideas, the extravagant hopes of some and the 
natural misgivings of others, the court was dis- 
turbed by the quarrels and jealousies of many of 
the great nobles who, not contented with occupy- 
ing the posts they held, aimed at making them 
hereditary in their families. 

The Marquis de Noailles was one of the gentle- 
men of the household of the Comte de Provence, 
who did not much like the Noailles, and said that 
the Marquis was a true member of that family, 
eager after his own interests and those of his rela- 
tions. Even the saintly Duchesse de Lesparre, 
when she resigned her place of dame d'atours to 
the Comtesse de Provence, was much aggrieved 
that the latter would not appoint another Noailles, 
but chose to give the post to the Comtesse de Balbi, 
a personal friend of her own. 



2o8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

The Marechale de Mouchy was furious because 
the Queen had created or revived an office which 
she said lessened the importance and dignity of 
the one she held, and after much fuss and dis- 
turbance she resigned her appointment. All the 
Noailles took her part and went over to the oppo- 
sition. Although the riches, power, and prestige of 
that family were undiminished, they were not nearly 
so much the favourites of the present royal family 
as they had been of Louis XIV. and Louis XV., 
which was natural, as they were so much mixed up 
with the ultra-Liberals, whose ranks had been 
joined by so many of their nearest relations. 

Mme. de Tesse, younger sister of the Due d'Ayen, 
was well known for her opinions. La Fayette, de 
Noailles, and de Segur had returned from America, 
and their ideas were shared by Rosalie's husband, 
de Grammont, and to a certain extent, though with 
much more moderation, by M. de Montagu. All 
the remaining daughters of the Due d'Ayen except 
Pauline shared the opinions of their husbands ; 
M. de Thesan and M. de Beaune were opposed 
to them, as was also the Duchesse d'Ayen, whose 
affection for her sons-in-law did not make her 
share their blind enthusiasm and unfortunate 
credulity. 

Inheriting the cool head, calm judgment, and 
commonsense of her father and grandfather, she 
did not believe in these extravagant dreams of 
universal happiness and prosperity. On the con- 
trary, her mind was filled with gloomy forebodings, 
and during a severe illness that she had, she called 
her daughters round her bed and spoke to them of 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 209 

her fears for the future with a sadness and earnest- 
ness only too prophetic, and with which PauHne 
was more strongly impressed than her sisters. 

Adrienne especially believed implicitly in her 
husband, who was now the supreme fashion 
amongst the Liberals, feted, flattered by high and 
low, and just at this time the idol of the people ; a 
popularity which soon gave place to hatred, and 
which did no good while it lasted. 

For La Fayette was neither a genius, nor a great 
man, nor a born leader ; the gift of influencing 
other people was not his ; he had no lasting power 
over the minds of others, and as to the mob, he led 
them as long as he went where they wanted to go. 
When he did not agree with all their excesses they 
followed him no longer. 

A man full of good qualities, brave, disinterested, 
honourable, a good husband, father, and friend, 
full of enthusiastic plans and aspirations for the 
regeneration of society and the improvement of 
everybody, La Fayette was a failure. He did more 
harm than good, for, like many other would-be 
popular leaders, he had gifts and capacity enough 
to excite and arouse the passions of the populace, 
but not to guide or control them. 

He was, in fact, a visionary, credulous enthusiast, 
with an overweening vanity and belief in his own 
importance ; obstinate and self-confident to a degree 
that prevented his ever seeing the fallacy of his 
views. His own conceit, and the flattery and 
adulation of his family and friends, made him 
think that he, and no other, was the man to save 
and direct France. His very virtues and attrac- 

15 



210 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

tions were mischievous in converting others to his 
unpractical and dangerous views. 

His Utopian government and state of society 
would have been all very well if they had been 
attainable, but he had no knowledge or compre- 
hension of the instruments and materials of which- 
they were to be composed, no insight into charac- 
ter, no correctness of judgment, no decision or 
promptitude in emergencies, and M^hat he did or 
helped to do was that most dangerous of pro- 
ceedings, to set in motion a force he could not 
control. 

In spite of all their engagements, Pauline and 
her sisters found time for an immense amount of 
charitable work of all sorts. They all took an 
active part in one way or another, and Pauline 
even managed to make use of the evenings she 
spent in society, for she collected money at the 
houses to which she went to help the poor during 
the hard winters. During that of 1788 she got a 
thousand ecus in this way. M. de Beaune used to 
give her a louis every time he won at cards, which 
was, or he good-naturedly pretended to be, very 
often. 

She and Mme. de la Fayette used also to visit 
the prisons, which in those days required no little 
courage, owing to the squalor, cruelty, and misery 
with which they were thus brought into contact. 

Pauline also had something like what would now 
be called by us a district at Montmartre, not far 
from the rue Chantereine, where she lived ; but 
she had poor pensioners all over Paris to whom 
she gave food, firing, clothes, doctors, everything 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 211 

they wanted, and whom she visited constantly. Old 
and young, good and bad, beggars, prisoners, every 
sort of distress found a helper in her. 

But neither her children nor her charitable and 
religious duties, absorbing as they were to her, 
could exclude her from intense excitement and 
interest in the political events going on around 
her. The questions discussed were so vital, and 
the changes so sweeping, that every phase of life 
was affected by them. 

The provincial assemblies were sitting all over 
France in 1787-8 in preparation for the States- 
General which were soon to be summoned with 
such fatal results. The Due d'Ayen was president 
of the assembly of Limousin, M. de Beaune of that 
of Auvergne ; nearly all the men of her family sat in 
one or the other, and were eager for the reforms 
which, if they could have been properly carried out 
and had satisfied the nation, would have indeed 
been the beginning of a new era of prosperity 
and happiness. 

The abolition of lettres de cachet, liberty of the 
press, the strict administration of justice, the 
equalisation of taxation, the abolition of the 
oppressive privileges of the nobles ; all these and 
others of the kind were hailed with acclamations 
by the generous, enthusiastic young nobles who 
imagined that they could regenerate and elevate to 
their lofty ideals the fierce, ignorant, unruly popu- 
lace who were thirsting, not for reform and good 
government, but for plunder and bloodshed. 

Never in the world's history was a stranger 
mingling of generosity and folly, unpractical learn- 



212 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

ing and brutal ignorance, misguided talents and 
well-meaning stupidity, saintly goodness and 
diabolical wickedness, heroic deeds and horrible 
crimes, than in the years ushered in with such 
triumph and joy by the credulous persons so truly 
described in later years by Napoleon : " Politi- 
cal economists are nothing but visionaries who 
dream of plans of finance when they are not fit 
to be schoolmasters in the smallest village. . . . 
Your speculators trace their Utopian schemes upon 
paper, fools read and believe them, every one 
babbles about universal happiness, and presently 
the people have not bread to eat. Then comes a 
revolution. . . . Necker was the cause of the 
saturnalia that devastated France. It was he who 
overturned the monarchy, and brought Louis XVI. 
to the scaffold. . . . Robespierre himself, Danton, 
and Marat have done less mischief to France 
than M. Necker. It was he who brought about 
the Revolution." 

The party who, like the more sensible and mode- 
rate reformers, wished only for the abolition of 
abuses, and for such considerable reforms in the 
government and laws as should give freedom and 
gradual prosperity to the whole nation, without des- 
troying or plundering one class for the benefit of 
another, vainly imagined that they would establish 
a constitution like that which in England had been 
the growth of centuries, in a few days or weeks, 
amongst a people totally different in every charac- 
teristic, quite unaccustomed to freedom, self-govern- 
ment, or calm deliberation, and exasperated by 
generations of tyranny. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 2i^ 

What they wanted was a free and just government 
under a constitutional king, but they failed to realise 
that their party was far too small and too weak to 
have any chance of carrying out their plans, and 
that behind them was the savage, ignorant, blood- 
thirsty multitude with nothing but contempt and 
derision for their well-intentioned projects of reform 
and law and just government, pressing onwards to 
the reign of anarchy and devastation which they 
themselves were doing everything to help them to 
attain. 

The States-General were to open on May 5th, and 
the day before M. de Beaune and M. de Montagu 
went to Versailles to be present, Pauline remaining 
in Paris to nurse a sick servant. 

Those who had dreaded the summoning of the 
States-General at a time when the public were in so 
inflamed and critical a state, were soon confirmed 
in their opinions by the disputes between the three 
orders, and the general ferment. Disloyal demon- 
strations were made, the King sent for more troops 
and dismissed Necker, who, like La Fayette, was 
unable to quell the storm he had raised ; everything 
was becoming more and more alarming. Just before 
the fall of the Bastille, Pauline, who was not well at 
the time, was sent to Bagneres again, where, after 
stopping at Toulouse to see her little orphan niece 
Jenny de Thesan, she arrived so dangerously ill 
that she thought she was going to die, and wrote a 
touching letter to her sister Rosalie, desiring that 
her children might be brought up by Mme. de 
Noailles, but commending them to the care of all 
her sisters. 



214 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Her illness was of course aggravated by the 
accounts from Paris, and she heard with dismay 
that La Fayette had been made commander of the 
garde-nationale, which she dreaded to see him 
leading against the King. He had then reached the 
height of his power.^ 

The Revolution had begun indeed, and was 
advancing at a fearful rate. The King and Queen, 
seeing the danger they were all in, at this time 
thought of escaping from Versailles. The Queen 
told Mme, de Tourzel to make preparations quietly 
to start. Had they done so it might probably have 
saved them all, but the King changed his mind and 
they stayed.2 

The Chasseurs de Lorraine and regiment de 
Flandre having been sent to Versailles on account 
of the crimes and murders daily committed there, 
the gardes-du-corps gave them a splendid banquet 
in the Salle de Coniedie, to which all the troops, 
including the gardes-nationales, were invited. 

The King, Queen, and Dauphin appeared, and 
there was an outburst of loyalty in which the gardes- 
nationales joined. The band struck up Richard o 
mon roi ; the ladies of the Court who had come into 
the boxes tore up their handkerchiefs into white 
cockades, the young officers climbed up into the 
boxes to get them ; the evening finished with a ball, 
and in a frenzy of loyalty. 

Again the King let slip a golden opportunity, for 
he could have left that night in perfect safety with 
a strong escort, and placed himself and the royal 

' " Memoires de Marquise de Montagu." 
= " Memoires de Mme. de Tourzel." 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 215 

family in safety, if only he had taken advantage of 
the favourable disposition of the troops, but the 
chance was lost, the demonstration infuriated and 
alarmed the Revolutionists, who succeeded in cor- 
rupting part of the regiment de Flandre, made La 
Fayette head of the National Guards, and carried the 
King and royal family to Paris. 

Even then they had a third chance of escape, for 
when the announcement of what was intended 
arrived, the King was out hunting, the horses were 
just being put into the carriage of the Dauphin who 
was going out for a drive, and if the Queen, her 
children, and Madame Elisabeth had got into the 
carriage and joined him, they could have fled 
together. But the idea did not occur to them ; they 
waited till the King returned, and were taken 
prisoners to Paris next day, escorted by La Fayette, 
who, though able to protect them from personal 
violence, was powerless to prevent the horrors and 
crimes committed by his atrocious followers. 

The King would not even try to defend himself or 
those belonging to him. Narbonne Fritzlard begged 
him to let him have troops and guns with which he 
would soon scatter the brigands, who could only 
pass by Meudon and the bridges of Sevres and St. 
Cloud. " Then, from the heights I will cannonade 
them and pursue them with cavalry, not one shall 
reach Paris again," said the gallant soldier, who 
even then would have saved the miserable King in 
spite of himself.i 

But Louis refused, and when the ruffians sur- 
rounded the chateau, forbade them to be fired on, 

' " Memoires de Mme. de Tourzel." 



2i6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

which order, when they heard, they began to 
massacre the gardes-du-corpSj who were not allowed 
to defend themselves ! 

In reading the history of these events one cannot 
help feeling that all one's sympathy is for Marie 
Antoinette and her children, but that a King whose 
conduct was so despicable, who shrank from shed- 
ding the blood of infamous traitors and murderers, 
while he allowed them to massacre his faithful 
soldiers and friends, was not worth dying for. 

When it was too late he ordered a carriage and 
tried to leave, but was stopped by the gardes- 
nationales and servants. La Fayette on his white 
horse rode with the cavalcade, full of uneasiness, 
for he saw that he could not control the followers 
with whom he had imagined himself to be all- 
powerful, their crimes and cruelties were abhorrent 
to him, and the fearful position of the King and 
royal family alarmed and distressed him. 

The royalists were just now all the more bitter 
against La Fayette, as he was supposed to have 
been partly the cause of the death of M. de Favras, 
who was engaged in a plot for the liberation of the 
King, which was unfortunately discovered. The 
King and Queen tried in vain to save him ; he was 
condemned and put to death. 

Mme. de Tourzel asserts that La Fayette helped 
to irritate the mob against him, and that he was 
afraid of de Favras' intrigues against himself, as 
he was accused of plotting to murder Necker, 
Bailly, and La Fayette. 

Pauline recovered from her illness and returned 
to Paris during the terrible days of October. Every- 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 217 

thing was changed, the streets were unsafe to walk 
in, murders were frequent, bands of ruffians went 
about threatening and insulting every one whom 
they suspected or disliked. She fetched her two 
children back to the rue Chantereine, and resumed 
her charitable expeditions, though it was dangerous 
to walk about. 

Society was split into opposing parties, in- 
furiated against each other, quarrels and reproaches 
took the place of the friendly conversations and 
diversions of former days. It was not to be won- 
dered at, and her own family once so united was 
now divided and estranged. 

M. de Beaune not only refused to receive or 
speak to the Vicomte de Noailles and La Fayette, 
but would scarcely allow Pauline to see her sisters, 
at any rate in his hotel. When they were announced 
anywhere he took up his hat and left the house, 
and the banging of doors in the distance proclaimed 
his displeasure. It was worse when she was alone 
with her husband and his father in the evenings. 
Ever since the fall of the Bastille M. de Beaune 
had been anxious to emigrate with his family, and 
Pauline, who shared his opinions, had the same 
wish. But her husband disapproved of it, and the 
endless discussions and altercations, in which M.de 
Beaune was irritated and violent, and his son quiet 
and respectful though resolute, made her very un- 
happy. 

Not that M. de Montagu shared the opinions of 
his brothers-in-law, he saw to what they had led. 
But he thought as many others did and still do, that 
emigration was a mistake, at any rate for the present, 



2i8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

that precipitation in the matter would irritate 
moderate men and many who were still undecided, 
and drive them into the ranks of the Revolutionists, 
especially if they saw the emigres preparing to 
return with a foreign army to fight against their 
countrymen. What he hoped for was a rapproche- 
ment between the royalists and the moderate con- 
stitutional party, who, if united, might still save 
both the monarchy and the reforms. M. de Beaune 
laughed at the idea, and events prove him to be 
right ; finally, as he could not convince his son, he 
set off alone. 

Pauline remained at Paris with her husband, and 
in February they lost their younger child, Clotilde. 
The morning after she died, Pauline, who had been 
up with her all night, was told that Rosalie, who 
was living at the hotel de Noailles, had just given 
birth to her first child. 

She dressed, and doing all she could to remove 
the traces of tears, she prepared, in spite of her 
husband's remonstrances, to go to her sister, sat 
with her, talked with apparent cheerfulness, but ex- 
hausted by the effort, fell fainting to the ground, 
when she left her room. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Chateau de Plauzet — Varennes — Increasing danger — Decided 
to emigrate — Triumphal progress of La Fayette — The fare- 
well of the Duchesse d'Ayen — Paris — Rosalie — A last mass 
— Escape to England. 

PAULINE was so ill after this that her husband 
took her and their remaining child to Aix-les- 
Bains, and then to their chateau of Plauzat in 
Auvergne, a curious, picturesque building, part of 
which dated from the twelfth or thirteenth century, 
which dominated the little town of the same name, 
and was surrounded by the most beautiful country. 

Hearing that the peasants, still attached to them, 
and untouched by revolutionary ideas, were about 
to receive them in the old way, with cross and 
banner and the ringing of the bells, they thought it 
better to arrive in the middle of the night, but the 
first thing in the morning the chateau was sur- 
rounded by the people, who were eager to see 
them. 

In this remote and delightful home they decided 

to stay for the present, and Pauline as usual spent 

much of her time looking after and helping the 

peasants, who followed her with their blessings as 

she went about. 

219 



220 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

They also made expeditions to several other 
castles in the neighbourhood, which belonged to the 
family, amongst others that of Beaime and the 
ancient castle of Montagu. 

Plauzat was a stately and comfortable, besides 
being a picturesque abode, with its immense hall 
hung with crimson damask and family portraits, 
out of which opened Pauline's great bedroom, the 
walls of which were covered with blue and white 
tapestry worked by M. de Montagu's grandmother, 
Laure de Fitzjames, grand-daughter of James II. 
of England. 

The months they spent there were the last of the 
old life. The vintage went on merrily, the peasants 
danced before the chateau, little Noemi played with 
the children, M. de Montagu rode about his farms, 
meeting and consulting with other owners of neigh- 
bouring chateaux, and the news from Paris grew 
worse and worse. The Due d'Ayen was safe, he 
had been denounced but had escaped to Switzer- 
land, and was living at Lausanne, where Pauline 
had been to see him from Aix. 

The Comtes de Provence and d'Artois and their 
wives had got safely over the frontier to Brussels, 
but the news of the flight and capture of the King, 
Queen and royal family, came upon them like a 
thunderbolt. Again it was probable that the fiasco 
was caused by Louis XVI. Not only had he 
deferred the flight till it was nearly impossible to 
accomplish it, but he persisted in their all going 
together, instead of allowing the party to be divided ; 
if he had consented to which, some of them at least 
might have been saved. It does not seem really at 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 221 

all impossible that the Dauphin might have been 

smuggled out of the kingdom, but their being so 

many diminished fearfully their chance of escape. 

Then he kept the carriage waiting for an hour 

or more when every moment was precious. The 

whole thing was mismanaged. The time necessary 

for the journey had been miscalculated. Goguelat 

went round a longer way with his hussars ; they 

ought to have been at a certain place to meet 

the royal family, who, when they arrived at the 

place appointed, found no one. After the arrest 

at Varennes a message might have been sent to 

M. Bouill6, who was waiting further on, and would 

have arrived in time to deliver them. Such, at any 

rate, was the opinion of persons who had every 

opportunity of judging of this calamitous failure.^ 

Madame Elizabeth, who might have been in security 

with her sister at the court of Turin, where their 

aunts had safely arrived, had stayed to share the 

captivity and death of the King and Queen. 

Nothing could be worse or more threatening. 

Revolutionary orators came down to Plauzat and 

soon the whole aspect of the place was changed. 

Peasants who before wanted to harness themselves 

to draw their carriage, now passed with their hats 

on singing (^a ira. Chdtemix began to be burnt 

in the neighbourhood, revolutionary clubs were 

formed, municipalities and gardes-tiationales were 

organised, and although the greater number of 

' It appears that the catastrophe was chiefly caused by Goguelat 
first miscalculating the time required for the journey, then not 
keeping the appointment with his escort ; and some said at Varennes 
he ought to have charged through the small number of people and 
pushed on to join Bouille, 



222 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

their people would not join in them ; cries of " A 
la lanterne " were heard among the hedges and vine- 
yards as they walked out, from those concealed, but 
as yet fearing to show themselves. 

This perilous state of affairs added to a letter 
Pauline received from her cousin, the Comtesse 
d'Escars, who had arrived at Aix-la-Chapelle, had 
seen M. de Beaune there, and heard him speak with 
bitterness and grief of his son's obstinacy, which he 
declared was breaking his heart, at length induced 
him to yield to his father's commands and his wife's 
entreaties. He consented to emigrate, but stipulated 
that they should go to England, not to Coblentz, and 
went to Paris to see what arrangements he could 
make for that purpose. While he was away La 
Fayette and his wife passed through the country, 
receiving an ovation at every village through which 
they passed. The King had accepted the constitu- 
tion, and La Fayette had resigned the command of 
the National Guard and was retiring with his family 
to his estates at Chavaniac, declaring and thinking 
that the Revolution was at an end. 

How it was possible, amidst the horrors and 
excesses going on throughout the land, to have such a 
delusion was incredible to Pauline ; but the credulous 
infatuation of her husband was shared by Adrienne, 
who was delighted to get away from public life into 
the country, and proposed that they should stop with 
her sister on the way. 

But Pauline knew well enough that the Vicomte 
de Beaune would never tolerate the presence of 
La Fayette in his house, nor forgive her if she 
received them there. Having explained this to her 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 223 

sister, she met her secretly at a Httle roadside inn 
where she knew they would stop to change horses. 

She found La Fayette as usual very affectionate 
to her, very much opposed to their emigrating, 
quite confident in the virtues of the mob, who were 
burning, robbing, and murdering all over the 
country, and whose idol he still was. 

The interview was short and sad ; the sisters 
promised to write frequently, and parted with 
many tears. Adrienne proceeding on her trium- 
phal progress to establish herself with her husband 
and children at Chavaniac, Pauline to wait in loneli- 
ness and terror at Plauzat for the return of her 
husband, making preparations to escape with him 
and their child at the earliest opportunity. But 
one unspeakable happiness and comfort was given 
to Pauline before she went forth into exile. The 
Duchesse d'Ayen came to stay with her for a 
fortnight on her way to see Adrienne at Chavaniac. 

It was a time never to be forgotten by Pauline ; 
through all the troubled, stormy years of her after 
life, the peaceful, holy recollections of that solemn 
intercourse remained deeply impressed upon her. 

On those wild autumn days she would sit in the 
great tapestried room working while her mother 
read and discoursed to her of the great truths of 
religion, the power and mercy of God, and the 
faith and courage which alone could support them 
amidst the trials and perils gathering around them ; of 
the sufferings and victories of the saints and martyrs ; 
of the swiftly passing trials and shadows of this 
world, the glory and immortality of the life beyond. 
And Pauline hung upon her mother's words, for 



224 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

she knew that they might be the last she would ever 
hear from that beloved voice, and her courage failed 
when she tried to tell her of her approaching exile. 
Mme. d'Ayen would every now and then address 
her counsels and instructions to the little grand- 
daughter who adored her ; and the mother and 
daughter would unite their prayers amidst the 
rushing of the tempests or the clamours of the 
Jacobin club set up close to the chateau. All 
around was changed and terrible ; they thought 
anxiously of those absent, and looked sadly at the 
church where they no longer went, as the cure 
was assermente ; and as the time drew near for her 
mother's departure Pauline continually resolved to 
tell her of her own, but she could never bring herself 
to do so. 

At last the day arrived ; the Duchess was to start 
at ten o'clock. Pauline persuaded her to stay till 
twelve and breakfast with her. She forced herself 
to be calm, but all the morning her eyes followed 
her mother about as she came and went and helped 
her pack, listening to every sound of her voice, 
gazing as if to impress her face upon her memory, 
for she had been seized with a presentiment that 
she should see her no more. She pretended to 
eat, but could touch nothing, and then, thank- 
ful that her mother did not know of the long 
separation before them, went down to the carriage 
with her arm in hers. She held up her child for a 
last kiss, and then stood watching the carriage as it 
bore her mother out of her sight for ever in this 
world. 

Then she fled to her own room and gave way 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 225 

to her grief, and to the forebodings which filled 
her mind, and still hung over her like a cloud, 
during the preparations and journey to Paris, where 
M. de Montagu soon wrote for his wife and child 
to join him without delay. 

On arriving at Paris she found to her great sorrow 
that her eldest sister was away. Rosalie de Gram- 
mont was there but was ill and suffering, expecting 
her confinement. Pauline wanted to stay with her 
till it was over, but Rosalie said that emigration 
was becoming more difficult and dangerous every 
day, that those who were going had no time to 
lose, and that she would not hear of Pauline's 
running any additional risk by delaying her journey 
for a single day. 

It was fixed, therefore, for the 8th of December ; 
Rosalie helped her sister with all the necessary 
purchases and packing, so that the servants might not 
discover where she was going, and, on the morning 
of the day before their parting, the two sisters went 
at the break of day through the falling snow to 
receive the Communion at a secret Oratory, going 
a long way round for fear their footprints in the 
snow should betray them. The day was spent in 
finishing their preparations, and after her child was 
in bed Pauline wrote her farewell to her mother 
and eldest sister. The night was far advanced when 
the letters were finished, and her eyes still bore 
traces of tears when, before morning dawned, she 
rose and prepared to start. 

Rosalie arrived, her pelisse all covered with snow ; 
the wind raged and it was bitterly cold. Pauline 
gave her sister the letters for the Duchesse d'Ayen 

16 



226 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

and Vicomtesse de Noailles, neither of whom she 
was ever to see again, awoke her child who was 
astonished to be taken up and dressed by candle- 
light, and gave her to M. de Montagu, who took 
her to the carriage, and then came back and, saying 
" Everything is ready," pressed the hand of his 
sister-in-law without any further leave taking than 
if they were going into the country, as the servants 
were standing about. 

Mme. de Grammont wished him " bon voyage," 
and then drew her sister back to the lire for a few 
last words. 

" Are you sure you have forgotten nothing ? 
Have you got your diamonds ? " 

" No ; what is the good ? I shall not wear them. 
We are not going to 3. fete." 

" My poor dear, that's all the more reason," said 
Rosalie. " Of course you must take them." 

Pauline understood, fetched her jewel-case, hid 
it under her cloak, and sending away her two maids, 
threw herself into her sister's arms. Rosalie clung 
to her in a passion of tears and sobs, they exchanged 
a lock of their hair, and Pauline, tearing herself 
away, hurried to the carriage in which her husband 
and child were waiting. 

They reached Calais on the evening of the day 
following, and the same night embarked for England. 



CHAPTER VII 

M. de Montagu returns to Paris — M. de Beaune — Richmond — 
Death of Noemi — Aix-la-Chapelle — Escape of the Due d'Ayen 
and Vicomte de Noailles — La Fayette arrested in Austria — 
The Hague — Crossing the Meuse — Margate — Richmond — 
Hardships of poverty — Brussels — Letter from Mme. de Tesse 
— Joins her in Switzerland — Murder of M. and Mme. de 
Mouchy — Goes to meet the Due d'Ayen — He tells her of the 
murder of her grandmother, Mme. de Noailles, her mother, 
the Duchesse d'Ayen, and her eldest sister, the Vicomtesse de 
Noailles — Mme. de la Fayette still in prison. 

DIRECTLY M. and Mme. de Montagu got to 
London they heard of the death of Pauline's 
aunt, the Duchesse de Lesparre, another grief for 
her ; but really at that time for any one to die 
peacefully among their own people was a subject 
of thankfulness to them all. 

Pauline, who was very delicate, never took proper 
care of herself, and was always having dreadful trials, 
began by being very ill. When she was better they 
established themselves in a pretty cottage by the 
Thames at Richmond. But in a short time her 
husband, who hated emigrating, heard that the 
property of emigrants was being sequestrated, and 
in spite of his wife's remonstrances, insisted on 

returning to France, hoping to save his fortune ; 

227 



228 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

and begging his wife to be prepared to rejoin him 
there if he should send for her when she had 
regained her strength. 

No sooner had he gone than his father arrived 
unexpectedly from the Rhine, where he had com- 
manded the Auvergne contingent in the army of 
Conde, composed almost entirely of gentlemen of 
that province. 

His first question was for his son, and Pauline 
really dared not tell him where he was, but when 
he asked whether he would be long absent, replied 
" No." She felt very guilty and unhappy because she 
was deceiving him ; but fortunately he only stayed 
in London a short time during which he was out 
day and night ; and suddenly he went away on 
business to another part of England. Meanwhile 
Pauline thought she would start for France, leaving 
a letter to M. de Beaune to confess the whole 
matter. 

But just as she was getting ready for the journey 
her little daughter was taken ill. She recognised with 
despair the fatal symptoms of her other children. 
She could not speak English or the doctor French, 
but Mme. de la Luzerne and her daughter, emigrees 
and friends of the Duchesse d'Ayen, hastened from 
London, took up their abode at Richmond, stayed 
with her until after the death of the child, and then 
took her to London and looked after her with the 
greatest kindness and affection until M. de Montagu 
arrived, too late to see his child, distracted with 
grief and anxiety for his wife, and sickened and 
horrified with the Revolution and all the cruelties 
and horrors he had seen. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 229 

He now proposed to enter his father's regiment, 
and Pauline said she would go with them. As they 
were in great want of money she sold her diamonds, 
worth more than 40,000 francs, for 22,000, and they 
went first to Aix-la-Chapelle, where she remained 
while her husband and his father proceeded to the 
camp at Coblentz. 

Aix-la-Chapelle was crowded with emigres, among 
whom she found many friends and relations. They 
met chiefly in the salon of her cousin, the Comtesse 
d'Escars ; every one had relations with the army of 
Conde, in prison, in deadly peril, or even already 
murdered. The society was chiefly composed of 
old men, priests and women, whose lives were a 
perpetual struggle with poverty hitherto unknown 
to them. 

In the ill-furnished, dilapidated hotel salon of 
Mme. d'Escars Pauline came in the evenings, after 
a day spent in the poor lodging upon the scanty 
food she could get, passing her time in reading, in 
devotion, and in doing what she could to help 
others. 

There she heard continually of the terrible scenes 
going on in Paris, and incidentally got news of one 
or other of her family, and now and then she 
received a letter from one of them with details 
which filled her with grief and terror. 

Her great uncle, the old Marechal de Mouchy, 
had never left the King on the terrible day of the 
2oth of June, but had stood by him making a rampart 
of his own body to protect him from the hordes of 
ruffians who were invading the palace ; her father, 
on hearing of these events, had left his refuge in 



230 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Switzerland and hurried back to the King ; so did 
her cousin, the Prince de Poix. Both of them had 
sympathised with the earlier Liberal ideas at first ; 
but now, horrified at the fearful development of 
their principles, they bitterly regretted their folly 
and came to place their lives at the service of their 
King. 

The Due d'Ayen spent the terrible night of 
August 9th in the Tuileries, and both of them fol- 
lowed the King to the Assembly. Even M. de Gram- 
mont, who had been strongly infected with the 
ideas of the time, and even belonged to the 
National Guard, ran great risk of his life by his 
support of the King on that day. 

As to La Fayette, he had rushed to Paris, 
violently reproached the Assembly for the attack 
on the Tuileries, demanded the punishment of the 
Jacobins, and offered to the King the services which 
were of no value, and which, as long as they had 
been of any use, had been at the disposal of his 
enemies. 

Again one remembers the words of Napoleon to 
the grandson of Necker, who said that his grand- 
father defended the King — 

" Defended the King I A fine defence, truly I 
You might as well say that if I give a man poison, 
and then, when he is in the agonies of death, 
present him with an antidote, I wish to save him. 
For that is the way your grandfather defended 
Louis XVI." 

The same remarks apply equally to La Fayette, 
whom, by the bye. Napoleon could not bear, and 
would have nothing to do with. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 231 

Pauline received a letter from Rosalie, written on 
the night of August loth. They had left the hotel 
de Noailles, which was too dangerous, and were 
living in concealment. " My father," wrote Rosalie, 
" only left the King at the threshold of the Assembly, 
and has returned to us safe and sound . . . but I 
had no news of M. de Grammont till nine o'clock in 
the evening. ... I got a note from my husband 
telling me he was safe (he had hidden in a chim- 
ney). Half an hour later he arrived himself. . . . 
I hasten to write to you at the close of this 
terrible day. . . ." 

The Due d'Ayen succeeded in getting away to 
Switzerland, and the Prince de Poix, who was 
arrested and being conducted to the Abbaye, con- 
trived to escape on the way, remained hidden in 
Paris for six months, and then passed over undis- 
covered to England, where Pauline met him after- 
wards. 

Pauline, who firmly believed in the ultimate 
success of the royalist army, and whose heart and 
soul were with the gallant soldiers of Cond6 and 
the heroic peasants of La Vendue, waited at Aix-la- 
Chapelle, studying English and German and corres- 
ponding with her mother and sisters under cover of 
an old servant. 

It was a thousand pities that they did not emi- 
grate like the rest, but as they were not actually 
proscribed, they did not like to leave the old Duke 
and Duchess de Noailles, who were feeble and 
dependent on their care. 

La Fayette, accused and proscribed by his late 
admirers, had found himself so unwilling to trust 



232 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

to their tender mercies that he fled to Liege. But 
having made himself equally obnoxious to both 
sides, he had no sooner escaped from the hands of 
his friends than he fell into those of his enemies, 
and was arrested by an Austrian patrol and detained, 
arbitrarily say his friends — but why arbitrarily ? — 
was taken to Wesel, and had now to undergo a 
mild form of the suffering he had caused to so 
many others. 

The Vicomte de Noailles was also proscribed, and 
fled to England, whence he kept writing to his wife 
to join him ; but she would not leave her mother 
and grandmother. 

Amongst the emigres themselves there were dis- 
putes. Those who had emigrated at first looked 
down upon the later ones, considering that they 
had done so, not out of principle, but to save their 
own lives. They, on the other hand, maintained 
that if there had been no emigration at all things 
would never have got to such a pitch. M. de Mon- 
tagu openly wished he had stayed and been with 
the royal family during the attack on the Tuileries. 

M. de Montagu was now with the troops of the 
Due de Bourbon, and hearing he was to pass 
through Liege, Pauline went there to see him, and 
waited at an inn to which she knew he would go. 
Though he was overjoyed at this unexpected meet- 
ing, he had to leave the same day, as an engagement 
was imminent, and he remarked that those who 
were accused of being the last to join the army 
must not be last on the battlefield. 

Sadly she returned to Aix-la-Chapelle, where the 
news which she had heard at Liege of the Septem- 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 233 

ber massacres had already arrived, and where, 
besides their own horror and grief, the emigres had 
to Hsten to the disgust and contempt everywhere 
expressed by those of other nations for a country 
in which such atrocities could be perpetuated with- 
out the slightest resistance. 

At the end of September she heard that Adrienne 
had been thrown into prison. She trembled for 
her fate and for that of her mother, Louise, and 
Rosalie. The campaign ended disastrously for the 
Royalists, and for days she did not know the fate of 
her husband and father-in-law. However, M. de 
Beaune arrived, and a few days later M. de Mon- 
tagu. 

They decided to stay at Aix for the present, and 
had just taken and furnished a small apartment 
when they heard the French army, under Dumour- 
riez, was advancing upon Aix. 

There was no time to lose ; the furniture, &c., 
was sold at a loss, they packed up in haste, found a 
carriage with great difficulty, and on a cold, bright 
day in December they set off, they knew not whither. 

The French army had overrun Belgium, every- 
one was flying towards Holland ; the road was 
encumbered with vehicles of all kinds. Old post- 
chaises, great family coaches, open carts, were 
filled with fugitives ; many went down the Rhine 
in boats. 

At Cologne Pauline met her cousin, the Comtesse 
de Brissac, still in mourning for their relation the 
Due de Brissac, late Governor of Paris, and Colonel 
of the Cent-Suisses, murdered in the streets of 
Versailles. 



234 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

They went down the left bank of the Rhine, 
passing the fortress of Wesel, where La Fayette was 
imprisoned. With tearful eyes Pauline gazed from 
the window of the carriage, but dared not ask to 
stop, M. de Beaune made no remark and pre- 
tended not to notice her agitation ; but he made no 
objection to the window being wide open in the 
bitter cold, as he would usually have done. 

They were kept a fortnight at the Hague by the 
storms and shipwrecks going on, but early in 
January they decided to embark for England. The 
cold was fearful, and, wrapped in fur cloaks, fur 
boots and caps, they set off to drive seven or eight 
leagues perched on the top of open baggage wag- 
gons, seated upon the boxes, so unsafe that the' 
Baron de Breteuil, who was with them, fell off and 
put his wrist out. 

The Meuse was frozen and must be crossed on 
foot. Pauline, who was again enceinte, managed, 
leaning upon her husband's arm, slipping and stum- 
bling, to get as far as the island in the middle. 
M. de Montagu insisted on her being carried the 
rest of the way by a sailor. M. de Beaune was 
helped by his only servant, Garden, a tiresome 
German boy of fifteen. They got to Helvoetsluys 
after dark, crossed next day, and after about a week 
found a cottage at Margate with a garden going 
down to the sea, which they took, and with which 
they were delighted. It stood between the sea and 
the country, and near them lived the family of 
M. Le Rebours, President of the Parliament of 
Paris, faithful Royalists who were happy enough all 
to have escaped, father, mother, grandparents, six 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 235 

children, and three old servants. He himself had 
just then gone to Paris to try to save some of his 
fortune. They had turned a room into a private 
chapel where mass was said by an old Abb6 ; all 
attended daily, and, needless to say, the prayer for 
the King was made with special fervour. 

The day the fatal news of his death arrived, 
the Abb6 stopped short and, instead of the usual 
prayer, began the De Profundis with a trembling 
voice. All joined with tears, but when, at the end 
of it, the old priest was going on to the other 
prayers, one of the congregation said aloud — 

"We have not come to that. Monsieur I'Abbt^. 
The prayer for the King 1 " 

And the loyal subjects joined in supplication 
for the captive, desolate child who was now 
Louis XVII. 

They were not long left in peace. War was 
declared with France, and all refugees were 
ordered to retire inland for greater security. 

The two families therefore moved to Richmond, 
where they found themselves surrounded by old 
friends, 

M. de Beaune was cheerful enough when the 
day was fine, as he spent his time in visiting them ; 
but when it rained he stayed at home fretting, 
grumbling, and adding unintentionally to the 
troubles of those he loved. He took to reading 
romances aloud to Pauline, who could not bear 
them, partly, perhaps, from over-strictness, but pro- 
bably more because in those days, before Sir 
Walter Scott had elevated and changed the tone of 
fiction, novels were really as a rule coarse, im- 



236 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

moral, and, with few exceptions, tabooed by persons 
of very correct notions. However, she knew M. de 
Beaune must be amused, so she made no objection. 

But her household difficulties were serious. Any 
persons who have passed their youth in ease and 
comfort, and then find themselves obliged to 
arrange their lives upon a totally different scale, 
will understand this. The petty economies which 
their soul abhors, the absurd mistakes they con- 
tinually make, often with disastrous results, the 
perplexity caused by few and incompetent servants, 
and the doubt as to whether, after all, their ex- 
penses will not exceed their resources, hang like 
millstones round their inexperienced necks in any 
case. 

But the condition of Pauline, brought up in all 
the luxury and magnificence of the hotel de Noailles, 
and suddenly cast adrift in a country the language 
and habits of which were unknown to her, with 
very little money and no means of getting more 
when that was gone, was terrifying indeed. She 
did not know where anything should be bought, 
nor what it should cost ; money seemed to her to 
melt in her hands. She consulted her husband, 
but he could not help her. If she tried to make 
her own dresses, she only spoilt the material, as one 
can well imagine. Their three servants, the Ger- 
man boy, a Dutch woman, and after a little while 
an English nurse, could not understand each other, 
but managed to quarrel perpetually and keep up 
the most dreadful chatter. Her child, this time a 
son, was born on March 30th, Easter Day. She 
had looked forward to celebrating that festival at 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 237 

the new church then to be opened, at which many 
of the young people were to receive their first Com- 
munion. PauHne, Hke all the rest of the French 
community, had been intensely interested and occu- 
pied in the preparations. Flowers were begged 
from sympathising friends to decorate the altar, 
white veils and dresses were made for the young 
girls by their friends, all, even those whose faith 
had been tainted and whose lives had been irre- 
ligious, joining in this touching and solemn festival, 
which recalled to them their own land, the memo- 
ries of their childhood, and the recollection of those 
they had lost. 

The first register in the little chapel was of the 
baptism of Alexandre de Montagu, whose god- 
parents were the Ehike de la Rochefoucauld- 
Dondeauville and Mme. Alexandrine de la Luzerne. 

At the beginning of August, Pauline, after making 
up the accounts, told her father-in-law that she had 
enough money left only to carry on the household 
for three months longer, but that if they returned to 
Brussels it would last twice as long, for they could 
live there much better at half the cost. 

So it is in the present day and so it was a 
hundred years ago ; and the little party set off again 
on their wanderings. They landed in Belgium just 
as the Prince of Orange had been beaten near 
Ypres, the Dutch army was retreating in disorder, 
the shops were shut, every one was flying, it was 
impossible to get a carriage, and it was not for 
many hours that they could get away from Bruges 
upon a sort of char-a-banc with a company of 
actors, with whom they at last entered Brussels. 



238 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Pauline took refuge with Mme. Le Rebours who 
was just establishing herself there with her family. 
She found letters from her mother and sister, a month 
old, telling her of the death of her great aunt, the 
Comtesse de la Mark, and her grandfather, the Due 
de Noailles. Here she also heard of the murder of 
the Queen, and all these hardships and shocks made 
her very ill. 

When she was better she and M. de Montagu 
took a small furnished apartment and dined at 
Mme. Le Rebours', paying pension of loo francs 
a month for themselves, the child and nurse. M. 
de Beaune went to live at a pension set up by the 
Comtesse de Villeroy, where for a very moderate 
price he had good food, a good room, and the 
society of a salon in Paris. He grumbled no more, 
and they were all much more comfortable than in 
England. 

Brussels was crowded with refugees, many of 
them almost destitute, who sold everything they had, 
gave lessons in languages, history, mathematics, 
writing, even riding, but there was so much com- 
petition that they got very little. 

Still they waited and hoped, as week after week 
went by. Early in the spring affairs had looked 
more promising. The coalition against France had 
formed again under the influence of England. La 
Vendee and Bretagne had risen, supported by insur- 
rections all over the South of France. Lyon, 
Toulon, Bordeaux, even Marseilles, and many dis- 
tricts in the southern provinces were furnishing 
men and arms to join in the struggle. But gradually 
the armies of the Republic gained upon them, the 




MARIE ANTOINETTE 



To face fa,i^e 2^-9 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 239 

south was a scene of blood and massacre, and the 
last hopes of the Royalists were quenched with the 
defeat of the heroic Vend^ens at Savenay (Decem- 
ber 23, 1793). 

Pauline was almost in despair. Her child died, 
as all the others had done ; letters from home had 
stopped, she did not know what had become of her 
mother, sisters, and grandmother ; they were in the 
middle of winter and had only enough money for 
another month ; more and more emigres were 
crowding into Brussels, flying from the Terror, 
which had begun. 

But one day she received a letter from her aunt, 
Mme. de Tesse, inviting her to come and live with 
her at Lowernberg in the canton of Fribourg. 

Mme. de Tesse had managed to preserve part 
of her fortune and was comparatively well off. She 
had more than once suggested that her niece should 
come to her, but Pauline would not leave her 
husband and father-in-law as long as she was neces- 
sary to them. Now, she saw that it would, as they 
were in such difficulty, be better to do so. Mme. 
de Tesse, suspecting that her niece was much worse 
off than she would tell her, sent her a gold snuff- 
box that had belonged to Mme.de Maintenon, which 
she sold for a hundred pounds. M. de Montagu 
decided to ask for hospitality with his maternal 
grandfather, the Marquis de la Salle who was living 
at Constance, and M. de Beaune said he would find 
himself an abode also on the shores of that lake. 

The Marquis de la Salle was more than eighty 
years old, and had been Lieutenant-General and 
Governor of Alsace ; he was now looked upon with 



240 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

the utmost deference by all the emigres around. 
His whole family were with him, except one son, 
who was with the army of Conde ; wife, children, 
single and married, and grandchildren. They re- 
ceived M. de Montagu with great kindness and 
affection and wanted also to keep Pauline ; but as, 
though not beggared, they were poor and obliged 
to economise and work to gain sufficient money for 
so large a household, she would only stay there a 
fortnight ; then, taking a sorrowful leave of her 
husband, she went on to her aunt, Mme. de Tesse. 

Now Mme. de Tesse was an extremely clever, 
sensible person, who knew very well how to manage 
her affairs ; and, unlike many of her relations and 
friends, she did not leave her arrangements and 
preparations until her life was in imminent danger, 
and then at a moment's notice fly from the country, 
abandoning all her property, with no provision for 
the future, taking nothing but her clothes and jewels. 

Having decided that she would have to leave 
France, she took care to provide herself with securi- 
ties sufficient to ensure her a fortune large enough 
to live upon herself, and to help others wherever she 
went. 

She had bought a farm near Morat, which she 
managed herself, which paid very well, gave her the 
occupation she required, and supported several 
helpless people. Her husband, M. de Tesse, grand 
d'Espagne de premiere classe, chevalier des orders, 
lieutenant-general des armies du Roi, premier ecuyet 
de la Reine, &c., a quiet man, remarkably silent in 
society ; M. de Mun, an old friend, whose wit and 
conversation she found necessary for her amuse- 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 241 

ment, and his son, had composed the family before 
the arrival of her niece ; there were also three old 
exiled priests whom she supported by the produce 
of her kitchen garden. 

Pauline and her aunt were extremely fond of 
each other, though their ideas did not agree at all. 
Mme. de Tesse adored La Fayette, and the deplor- 
able result of his theories from which they were all 
suffering so severely did not prevent her admiring 
them. 

Pauline went to confession to one of the old 
priests, and tried in every way to help her aunt, with 
more good will than knowledge, for when diligently 
watering the vegetables and flowers she watered the 
nettles besides, to the great amusement of Mme. 
de Tesse. 

Three weeks after her arrival a letter from 
London brought the news that the Marechal de 
Mouchy and his wife, uncle and aunt of Mme. 
de Tesse, great-uncle and great-aunt of Pauline, had 
been guillotined on the 27th of June. For the crime 
of giving help to some poor priests they were 
arrested and sent to La Force, whence they were 
transferred to the Luxembourg where they were the 
object of universal reverence and sympathy. When, 
after a time, they were summoned to the Concier- 
gerie, which was the vestibule of the tribunal, and 
was looked upon as the gate of death, the Marechal 
begged that no noise might be made as he did not 
wish Mme. la Marechal to know of his going, for 
she had been ill. 

" She must come too," was the answer, " she is 
on the list ; I will go and tell her to come down." 

17 



242 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

" No," said the Mar^chal, " if she must go I will 
tell her myself." 

He went to her room and said as he entered — 

" Madame, you must come, it is the will of God, 
let us bow to His commands. You are a Christian, 
I am going with you, I shall not leave you." 

The news spread through the prison and caused 
general grief. Some of the prisoners got out of the 
way because they could not bear to see them pass, 
but most stood in a double row through which they 
walked. Amidst the murmurs of respect and 
sorrow a voice cried out — 

"Courage, Monsieur le Marechal ! " 

" A qiiinze ans," said the old soldier, firmly, "j'at 
monte a I'assaut pour nion roi ; a pres de quatre- 
vingts ans je monterai a I'echafaud pom inon 
Dieu." 

The news fell like a thunderbolt upon the little 
household. To Pauline it seemed as if this blow 
were a forecast of another still more terrible. It 
was long since she had heard anything of her 
mother, grandmother, and sisters, and she lived 
in a state of feverish suspense almost impossible 
to bear. 

It was on the 27th of July, 1794, that she started on 
a journey to see her father, who was living in the 
Canton de Vaud, near the French frontier. For 
two nights she had not slept from the terrible 
presentiments which overwhelmed her. Young 
de Mun went with her, and having slept at Moudon, 
they set off again at daybreak for Lausanne. As 
they approached the end of their journey they were 
suddenly aware of a char-a-banc coming towards 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 243 

them in a cloud of dust, driven by a man with a 
green umbrella, who stopped, got down and came 
up to them. It was the Due d'Ayen, now Due de 
Noailles, but so changed that his daughter scarcely 
recognised him. At once he asked if she had heard 
the news, and on seeing her agitation, said hastily 
with forced calmness that he knew nothing, and 
told M. de Mun to turn back towards Moudon. 

In an agony of terror Pauline sprang out of the 
carriage and implored him to tell her the worst, for 
she could bear it. 

The Duke put her back in the carriage and sat 
holding her in his arms ; of what passed during 
their drive she never had a clear recollection, except 
that in a voice almost inaudible she ventured to ask 
if Rosalie was still alive, to which her father replied 
upon his word of honour that he had heard nothing 
of her. More, she dared not say, frightful visions 
rose before her eyes, she fancied herself seated 
upon the tumbril bound with other victims, and the 
thought was almost a relief to her. 

At last they arrived at Moudon, her father led her 
into a room in the inn, closed the door and began 
by telling her as gently as possible that he had just 
lost his mother, the Marechale de Noailles. He 
stopped, seeing the deadly paleness of his daughter, 
who knew by his face that he had not told all. 

"And I, father? "she cried, clasping her hands 
together. He told her that he was not without fear 
for the fate of the Duchess and even for that of the 
Vicomtesse de Noailles. 

Then she knew that the worst had happened, and 
with a terrible cry she threw herself into her father's 



244 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

arms, and with tears and sobs wished she had been 
in the place of her sister. 

The Duke took her back to Lowernberg, where 
M. de Mun, who had preceded them, had already 
taken the fatal news to Mme. de Tess6. She 
received her brother and niece with transports of 
grief and affection, and did everything she could to 
comfort them. The list of victims in the paper 
from Paris contained the names of the Marechal 
de Noailles, the Duchesse d'Ayen and the Vicomtesse 
de Noailles, but it was some time before they could 
get any details. 

After the death of the old Marechal de Noailles in 
August, 1793, the Duchesse d'Ayen and her eldest 
daughter moved to Paris with the Marechale, who 
was old and feeble and whose reason, always very 
eccentric, as will be remembered, was becoming 
still more impaired. Had it not been for her and 
their devoted kindness to her, the lives of both 
the Duchess and her daughter might have been 
saved. Everything was prepared for the flight of 
the Vicomtesse to England, where her husband was 
waiting for her, intending to embark for America. 
The Duchess would probably have succeeded in 
making her escape also, but she would not leave 
her old mother-in-law, and Louise would not leave 
her. 

Rashly they went to Paris in September, 1793, 
and were soon detained as " suspected " in their 
own house, where Father Carrichon, a priest, who in 
disguise carried on the work of his sacred calling, 
succeeded in visiting them frequently ; and from 
the news he brought them they were before long 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 245 

convinced that their lives would be sacrificed, and 
prepared with courage and resignation to meet their 
death. 

As they were talking one day on the subject to 
Father Carrichon, the Duchess asked him if he 
would promise to be with them at the foot of the 
scaffold. He did so, adding that he would wear a 
dark blue coat and a red carmagnole. 

In April, 1794, they were sent to the Luxembourg 
where they found the de Mouchy, who had been 
there five months, and who were lodged in a room 
over the one in which the Marechale de Mouchy 
was born. They had also been married at that 
palace. The three de Noailles were put in the 
room above them. 

There was a great difference amongst the prisons 
of Paris, and the Luxembourg was perhaps the best, 
most comfortable, and most aristocratic of all, 
though the Convent des Oiseaux, the Anglaises, and 
Port Libre, were also very superior to others. 

Amongst many other acquaintances they found 
the excellent Duchesse d'Orleans, already widow of 
the infamous Egalite, who was very ill and had a 
wretched bed. Mme. d'Ayen gave her her own 
which was better and nursed her, while Louise took 
care of her grandmother night and day, made the 
beds, and washed the plates and cups. 

Twice a week at a certain hour she went on 
pretence of taking the air to a place from whence 
she could see her three children, whom their tutor, 
devoted to her and her family, brought into the 
garden below. Now and then she received and 
sent notes to and from him, by one of which they 



246 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

learnt that Adrienne was in the prison called Plessis, 
one of the worst. 

" God gives me strength," she wrote to him, " and 
He will support me ; I have perfect confidence in 
Him. Adieu ; the feeling for all I owe you will 
follow me to heaven ; do not doubt it. Without 
you what would become of my children ? Adieu, 
Alexis, Alfred, Euphemie. Let God be in your 
hearts all the days of your lives. Cling to Him 
without wavering ; pray for your father : do all 
for his true happiness. Remember your mother, 
and that her only wish has been to keep you for 
eternity. I hope to find you again with God, and 
I give you all my last blessing." 

With calmness they received the order to go to 
the Conciergerie, which was, they knew, their 
death sentence. When they were sent for, the 
Duchess, who was reading the " Imitation of 
Christ," hastily wrote on a scrap of paper, " My 
children, courage and prayer," put it in the place 
where she left off, and gave the book to the 
Duchesse d'Orleans to give to her daughters if 
her life were spared. As she said their names, for 
once her calmness gave way. The book was wet 
with her tears, which left their mark upon it always. 

The Conciergerie was crowded, but one of the 
prisoners, Mme. Laret, gave up her bed to the old 
Marechale : Mme. d'Ayen laid herself upon a 
pallet on the floor, and the Vicomtesse, saying, 
" What is the use of resting on the eve of 
eternity ? " sat all night reading, by the light of 
a candle, a New Testament she had borrowed, 
and saying prayers. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 247 

Perfectly calm and undisturbed, she helped her 
mother dress, remarking — 

" Courage, mamma ; we have only an hour 
more." 

Father Carrichon, warned by M. Grelet the tutor, 
was ready. As he walked by the car of the victims 
they recognised him with joy, and a fearful storm 
that was going on helped to disguise his gestures 
and proceedings, and when an opportunity offered 
he turned to them, raised his hand, and pronounced 
the words of absolution amidst thunder and light- 
ning which scattered the crowd, but did not prevent 
their hearing him distinctly nor drown their thanks 
to him and message of farewell to those they loved. 
" God in His mercy calls us. We shall not forget 
them ; may we meet in heaven ! " 



CHAPTER VIII 

Illness — Leaves Switzerland with Mme. de Tesse— They settle near 
Altona — Hears of Rosalie's safety — Life on the farm — Release 
of Adrienne — Her visit — Farm of Ploen — Peaceful life there — 
Rosalie and Adrienne — Birth of Pauline's son — He and her 
other children live — Release of La Fayette — Their visit to 
Ploen — Meeting of Adrienne, Pauline, and Rosalie at the 
Hague. 

THIS fearful shock brought on so violent an 
attack of illness that Pauline's friends feared 
for her reason. Her aunt nursed her with the 
deepest affection, her husband arrived to comfort 
her with his love and sympathy, and the anxiety 
about Rosalie gave her a new object of interest. 
The Duke went to see the Princesse de Broglie, 
who had just come to the neighbourhood from 
France ; she knew nothing ; but a smuggler was 
found who knew all the paths of the Jura, and 
who was willing to go to Franche Comte, pro- 
mising not to return without knowing the fate of 
Mme. de Grammont. 

The government of Fribourg had begun to 
annoy Mme. de Tesse about her niece, objecting 
to her receiving her, and Pauline thought it best 

to go for a time to Constance. While she was 

243 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 249 

there the smuggler returned, having discovered 
Mme. de Grammont, who was safe in Franche 
Comte, and had with her the children of the 
Vicomtesse de Noailles and their faithful tutor. 
She had written to her father and sister on hand- 
kerchiefs sewn inside the smuggler's waistcoat, 
and was thankful to find they were alive ; but she 
could not, as they begged her to do, get out of 
France just then, as her husband was not suffi- 
ciently recovered from an illness to undertake a 
journey. 

Mme. de Tesse, alarmed by the conduct of the 
government of Fribourg, sold her property there, 
and resolved to go far north, as the French 
armies seemed to be spreading all over central 
and southern Europe. 

The little party left Lowemberg at five o'clock 
one morning before there was much light, except 
the reflections from the snow upon the mountains ; 
spent a few days at Berne, and went on to Schaff- 
hausen, where M. de Montagu met them, and took 
his wife to Constance to say goodbye to the La 
Salle. She stayed four days, and then rejoined her 
aunt, and went on to Ulm and Nuremberg, where 
her husband had to leave her, and return to 
Constance. The rest proceeded to Erfurt, spent 
a month there among many old friends who had 
taken refuge in that quiet, ancient town. Finally 
they crossed the Elbe and arrived at Altona, where 
in Danish territory they hoped to be able to live in 
peace and security. 

They found a farm, settled themselves in it, and 
after a time M. de Montagu was added to the house- 



250 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

hold, for he came to see his wife, and their joy at 
meeting so touched Mme. de Tesse, that she said he 
had better stay altogether. 

For with care and good management she con- 
trived to live simply, but quite comfortably. Not 
that farming or life in the depth of the country 
were at all her fancy ; no, what she liked was a 
town and a salon frequented by clever, amusing 
people of the world whose conversation she could 
enjoy. But she knew well enough that if she 
settled in a town and had a salon, before very 
long she would be nearly ruined, whereas at her 
farm she found no difficulty in supporting herself 
and those dependent upon her, and helping many 
others besides. 

As to Pauline, she spent her whole time in work- 
ing for and visiting those unfortunate emigres within 
reach who were in poverty and distress. 

Not far from them she found Mme. Le Rebours, 
whose husband had persisted in going to France, and 
had been guillotined. She and her family, amongst 
whom was the brave, devout spirit, were overjoyed 
to meet her again. 

She was happier now than she had been for a 
long time ; she heard every now and then from 
her father and Rosalie, her husband was with her, 
and her love for the aunt, who was their good 
angel, ever increased. But still the terrible death 
of her mother, sister, and grandmother cast its 
shadow over her life, added to which was her 
uncertainty about Adrienne. 

Whatever may be said for or against emigration, 
one thing is apparent — those who emigrated early 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGV 251 

saved not only their lives, but, if they were 
commonly prudent, part of their property also. 
Those who emigrated late saved their lives, but 
lost all their property ; while those who remained, 
or returned, were most likely to lose their liberty, 
if not their lives. 

If the King had taken the opportunity on the 
night of the banquet at Versailles, gained the coast, 
and escaped to England, he would have saved 
himself and his family from misery and destruc- 
tion, as his brothers did. 

In Pauline's family those who, like herself and 
those about her, got out of the country, were safe 
from everything but the poverty caused partly by 
their own improvidence. But of those who re- 
mained there was scarcely one who escaped death 
or the horrors of a revolutionary prison. Only M. 
and Mme. de Grammont had managed to keep 
quiet in a distant part of the country, and, of 
course, at the peril of their lives. 

At last a letter came to say that Adrienne was 
free. She had been the last to be released from 
Plessis after the death of Robespierre had, to a 
great extent, stopped the slaughter and opened the 
prisons. Her captivity had lasted from October, 
1793, till February, 1795 ; and now, very soon after 
her letter, Adrienne arrived with her two young 
daughters at Altona. 

The two sisters had not met since the interview 
at the inn during the triumphal progress of the 
La Fayette. It was a mercy that Pauline had not 
believed in their Utopia nor taken their advice. 
Even now Adrienne was only exchanging one 



252 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

prison for another, for she was shortly going to 
Austria to obtain leave to share that of La Fayette. 

Long and touching were the conversations and 
confidences of the sisters when they were alone 
together. 

Overcome with emotion at first they looked at 
each other in silence ; then, in a voice broken 
with sobs, Pauline asked, " Did you see them ? " 

" I had not that happiness," replied Adrienne. 

But she knew all the details of their fate ; she had 
seen M. Grelet and Father Carrichon, who had gone 
to the scaffold first with their great uncle and aunt, 
de Mouchy, then with her grandmother, mother, and 
sister. In the prison of Plessis she had found her 
cousin, the Duchesse de Duras, daughter of the de 
Mouchy, and they had consoled each other under 
the awful calamity that each had undergone. Only 
a few days more and the Noailles would have been, 
like their uncle, the Marquis de Noailles, youngest 
brother of the Due d'Ayen, saved by the death of 
Robespierre. The Duchesse de Duras was at once 
liberated with the rest ; but the spite and hatred of 
Legendre, governor of Plessis, against the very name 
of La Fayette, caused Adrienne to be detained until 
the exertions of Mme. de Duras procured her 
freedom. 

She sent her boy to America under the name of 
Motier, to be brought up under the care of Wash- 
ington, and then went to Auvergne to see her old 
aunt, fetch her daughters, and settle her affairs ; 
she had borrowed some money from the Minister 
of the United States and some diamonds from 
Rosalie, and had bought back her husband's chateau 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 253 

of Chavaniac with the help of the aunt who had 
brought him up, and who remained there. 

She met her daughters in a mountain village near 
Clermont, and the deep, fervent joy of their restora- 
tion to each other out of the shadow of death was 
increased by finding that the priest had just ventured 
to reopen the village church, where on the next day, 
Sunday, they again attended mass in that secluded 
place, and where Virginie, the younger girl, made 
her first Communion. And she had seen Rosalie, 
for Mme. de Grammont heard of her sister's release, 
and resolved to join her. Having very little money, 
and travelling by public conveyances being still 
unsafe, taking her diamonds she rode a mule with 
her three children in paniers, and her husband 
walking by her side. Thus they journeyed by 
steep mountain paths, or country lanes, but always 
by the most secluded ways possible. When they 
reached Paris, Adrienne was gone, but they resumed 
their primitive travelling, followed her to Auvergne, 
and came up with her at the little town of Brionde. 

Adrienne had brought Pauline a copy of their 
mother's will, and, not being an emigree, had taken 
possession of the castle and estate of Lagrange, left 
to herself. She only spent a short time at Altona, 
and started for Austria. 

Her farm near the Baltic did not altogether satisfy 
Mme. de Tesse, and before long they again moved, 
to be in the neighbourhood of a residence she had 
heard of, and hoped to get after a time. 

It was by the lake of Ploen, and they were obliged 
to pass the winter at the little town of that name, for 
it was October when the cavalcade arrived — M. and 



254 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Mme. de Tesse, the Montagu, the de Mun, and the 
priests, to whom another had been added. 

There Pauline had a son, and to her great joy he 
and the children she afterwards had lived to grow 
up. The farm Mme. de Tesse wished for was called 
Wittmold, and lay at the other side of the lake upon 
a plain covered with pasture and ponds, as far as the 
eye could reach. The house stood on a promontory 
jutting out into the lake, and was surrounded by 
fields, apple trees, and pine woods. They crossed 
the lake in boats, and established themselves there. 
They could live almost entirely upon the produce of 
the place, for there was plenty of game, plenty of 
fish in the lake : the dairy farm paid extremely well, 
the pasture produced rich, delicious milk ; they had 
a hundred and twenty cows, and made enormous 
quantities of butter, which they sold at Hamburg. 
It was pleasant enough in the summer, but in winter 
the lake was frozen, the roads covered with snow, 
and the cold wind from the Baltic raved round the 
house. However, they were thankful for the shelter 
of a home that most of their friends would have 
envied, and they lived peacefully there for four 
years, during which Pauline organised and carried 
on a great work of charity which, with the assistance 
of one or two influential friends, soon spread all 
over Europe. It was a kind of society with branches 
in different countries, to collect subscriptions for the 
relief of the French exiles, and it involved an enor- 
mous amount of letter- writing, for, if the subscrip- 
tions poured into Wittmold, so did letters of entreaty, 
appealing for help. But Pauline was indefatigable 
not only in allotting the different sums of money, 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 255 

but in finding employment, placing young girls as 
governesses, selling drawings and needlework, &c. 

M. de Beaune paid them one or two visits, and in 
October, 1797, La Fayette, his wife, and daughters, 
were released from captivity, and arrived at Witt- 
mold with his two faithful aides-de-camp. The 
brother of one, the Comte de Latour-Maubourg, 
soon after married Anastasie, his eldest daughter. 

Pauline heard the trumpet of the postilion in the 
little town, and hurried across the lake to meet 
them. They all crossed in a procession of little 
boats to the other shore, where Mme. de Tess6 
was waiting for them. 

La Fayette was still an exile. Too Jacobin for 
Austria, too royalist for France, he took a place 
near Wittmold. The wedding of his eldest daughter 
took place the following May, and a few days after- 
wards a daughter was born to Pauline and christened 
Stephanie. 

Mme. de Tess6, who knew nothing about a sick 
room, was very anxious and busy, and insisted on 
helping to nurse Pauline. In spite of her free- 
thinking professions, she would be observed to 
make the sign of the cross behind the curtain of 
the bed. She made various mistakes, and in her 
haste poured a bottle of eau de Cologne instead of 
water over the head of the new-born infant. 

Georges de la Fayette, now nineteen, came over 
from America, and arrived at Wittmold, to the 
delight of the little colony, after his long separa- 
tion from his family, and his return was the great 
event of the winter and the delight of his mother. 

But the sufferings of the last seven years had 



2S6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

terribly injured Adrienne's health, and it was not 
till she had a little recovered that La Fayette movedy- 
with all his family, to Viane, a small Dutch town 
near Utrecht, where they settled for a time to 
watch the course of events. 

It was necessary to settle the succession to the 
estates of the Duchesse d'Ayen, and it was impos- 
sible to arrange this without the meeting of the 
family. The Vicomte de Noailles was in America, 
the Marquis de Thesan in Germany, Mme. de 
Montagu was on the list of emigrees, and could 
not enter France. Her part of the inheritance 
had been confiscated, but M^ Bertemy, the old 
family lawyer, had bought and transferred it to 
the rest of the family, to be given her in better 
times. 

It was decided that the three sisters should meet 
at Viane, where Pauline and her husband went, 
with post-horses provided by Mme. de Tesse. It 
was eight years since Pauline and Rosalie had 
met, and Pauline said it was a foretaste of Heaven. 

They all boarded at the La Fayette, but as they 
were very poor there was very little to eat. They 
would dine upon csufs a la neige, and spend the 
evening without a fire, wrapped in fur cloaks to 
keep out the cold of the early spring. M. de 
Montagu always had declared he had only had one 
good dinner in Holland, and that was one night 
when he dined with General Van Ryssel. 

Mme. d'Ayen had left property in the department 
of Seine-et-Marne to the children of the Vicomtesse 
de Noailles, the estate and castle of Lagrange to 
Mme. La Fayette, an estate between Lagrange and 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 257 

Fontenay to the daughter of Mme. de Th6san, the 
old castle and lands of Fontenay to Mme. de Mon- 
tagu, and an estate called Tingri to Mme. de 
Grammont. 

But as long as Pauline remained on the list of 
^emigrees the affairs could not be wound up. 

Before parting, after a month spent together, the 
three sisters composed a beautiful litany to be said 
by them in remembrance of their mother, sister, and 
grandmother. It opened with that sublime passage 
of scripture beginning with the words, " The souls 
of the righteous are in the hands of God ; there 
shall no torment touch them." 

Reluctantly they separated in May, Pauline re- 
turning to Wittmold with more luggage than she 
brought from there, namely, a large box of clothes 
from America, a present from George de la Fayette 
to the emigres at Wittmold, and a trunk full of 
clothes belonging to M. de Beaune, which Mme. 
de la Fayette had found and brought from 
Auvergne, and which, though they were somewhat 
old-fashioned, he was delighted to get. 



18 



CHAPTER IX 

Return to France — The inheritance of the Duchesse d'Ayen — 
Loss of the Noailles property — Inherits the Castle of 
Fontenay — Death of Mme. de la Fayette — Prosperous life 
at Fontenay — Conclusion. 

THE time had now come when the friendly 
farm at Wittmold, which had sheltered 
them in adversity, must be given up. The emigres 
were returning ; Mme. de la Fayette and Mme. de 
Grammont urged their sister to do the same, and 
Mme. de Tesse was longing to see Paris again. 

Mme. de Montagu started first with her husband, 
leaving her boy with her aunt and her girl with a 
friend. As they were still on the proscribed list 
they travelled under the names of M. et Mme. 
Mongros. They took up their quarters in Paris 
at a small house kept by an old servant of M. de 
Thesan, where they found their cousin, the Duchesse 
de Duras and the Doudeauville, living under their 
own names, in little rooms very clean, but so 
scantily furnished that if any visitors arrived they 
had to borrow chairs from each other. 

To walk about Paris was at first most painful to 
Mme. de Montagu. The sound of carts in the 
streets made her shudder, the churches were 

258 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 259 

mostly in ruins or closed. The few that were 
open were served by pretres assermenUs. 

Her nephews, Alexis and Alfred de Noailles 
came to see her, and she went down to Lagrange 
where the La Fayettes were restoring the chateau^ 
planting and repairing. She soon got her name 
taken off the proscribed list, then those of her hus- 
band, her aunt, her father, her father-in-law, and 
various other friends, who soon arrived in Paris. 

Mme. de Tesse took a house near which Pauline 
and her husband found an apartment, and their 
first endeavour was to regain possession of the 
hotel de Noailles, which had not been sold but was 
occupied by the Consul Le Brun, who had just 
left the Tuileries, now inhabited by Napoleon. 
They did not succeed, however, in getting it back 
until the Restoration. One day, having to go to 
the Temple to see one of the young le Rebours, 
who had come back without permission, was 
imprisoned there, and whose release she soon 
procured, Pauline passed through the now de- 
serted corridors and rooms which had been the 
prison of the royal family. Looking about for 
any trace of them she found in a cupboard an old 
blue salad-bowl which had belonged to them, and 
which she carried away as a precious relic. 

The Due de Noailles, her father, finding he could 
not recover his hotel, returned philosophically to 
Switzerland, and bought a house on the Lake of 
Geneva. He had married the Countess Golowskin, 
which at first was a grief to his daughters, but after 
a time they were reconciled to the idea, and got on 
very well together. 



26o HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Pauline had another daughter in May, 1801, and 
after her recovery and a few weeks with Mme. de 
Grammont and at the baths at Loueche, she went 
to the district of Velay with her husband to see if any 
of the property of his father could be recovered. 
Their fortunes were, of course, to some extent 
restored by Pauline's inheritance from her mother, 
and the fine old chateau of Fontenay ^ made them 
a charming home for the rest of their lives. 

They stopped at Puy, where they found awaiting 
them at the inn a certain old Dr. Sauzey, who had 
been born on an estate of M. de Beaune, and 
cherished a deep attachment for the Montagu 
family. He still practised in the neighbourhood 
where he attended the poor for nothing, knew 
every man, woman, and child for miles round, 
was beloved by them all, and very influential 
among them. He knew all the peasants and 
country people who had bought land belonging 
to the Montagu family, and had so lectured and 
persuaded them that numbers now came forward 
and offered to sell it back at a very moderate price. 
The good old doctor even advanced the money to 
pay them at once, and having settled their affairs in 
V61ay they passed on to Auvergne. 

The castles and estates of their family had all 
passed into the hands of strangers, the Chateau de 
Bouzolz was in ruins, so was Plauzat, where all the 
town came out to meet and welcome them with 
the greatest affection, and where they succeeded in 
buying back a good deal of land, but the chateau 

' Fontenay-Tresigny, province de Brie. 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 261 

in which they had spent such happy days was 
uninhabitable. 

They went on to Clermont, the capital of the 
province, where M. de Beaune had a house in the 
town and a chateau and estate named Le Croc just 
outside it. They had passed into the hands of 
strangers, but all the furniture and contents of the 
chateau had been saved by the faithful concierges, 
the Monet, who, with the help of their relations 
and friends, had during the night carried it all 
away, taking beds to pieces, pulling down cur- 
tains and hangings, removing all the wine from 
the cellars, and hiding safely away the whole of it, 
which they now restored to its owners. 

M. de Beaune, who came later on to take a fare- 
well look at the ruined home of his ancestors, 
chose part of it to furnish the house he had 
bought to make his home at Lyons. He also 
found an old carriage in which he departed to 
that city. The property of the Mar^chal de 
Noailles, who died in 1793, had all been confis- 
cated and sold, except some remains which were 
swallowed up by creditors. All that remained was 
the ruined castle of Noailles, which Pauline would 
never sell, though after her father had placed it in 
her hands she was offered two thousand ecus for 
it. Mme. de Tesse bought a charming house, 
which was always filled with her nephews, nieces, 
and friends, and though again she had plenty of 
cows, she no longer had occasion to sell the milk. 
As she grew older her ideas became more devout 
and her faith stronger, to the great consolation of 
her nieces, especially of her favourite Pauline. 



262 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

The first great sorrow was the death of Mme. de 
la Fayette on Christmas Eve, 1808, at the age of 
forty-eight. Her health had been completely under- 
mined by the terrible experiences of her imprison- 
ments ; and an illness caused by blood-poisoning 
during her captivity with her husband in Austria, 
where she was not allowed proper medical attend- 
ance, was the climax from which she never really 
recovered. She died as she had lived, like a saint, 
at La Grange, surrounded by her broken-hearted 
husband and family, and by her own request was 
buried at Picpus, where, chiefly by the exertions of 
the three sisters, a church had been built close to 
the now consecrated ground where lay buried their 
mother, sister, grandmother, with many other 
victims of the Terror. 

The wanderings and perils of Pauline were now 
at an end. From henceforth her home was with 
her husband and four children in the old chateau of 
Fontenay, which they repaired and put in order. 
It was a fortress built in the reign of Charles VI., 
and afterwards inhabited and decorated by the Due 
d'Epernon. The great tower of the castle still bore 
his name, and the blue and gold ceiling of his bed- 
room still remained. It had an immense park and 
lakes, and a great avenue of chestnut-trees led up to 
the chateau. The Abbe Cartier, cure of Fontenay, 
was a man after her own heart. He had known 
her mother, for he came very young to the parish, 
which he loved with all his heart, and which he 
had only once left, on the approach of a revolu- 
tionary mob. Leaving the presbytere with all his own 
things at their mercy, he hid the cross and all the 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 263 

properties of the church, and as to the statues of 
the saints which he could not remove, he painted 
them all over, turning them into National Guards 
with swords by their sides. He was only per- 
suaded by his people to escape when already the 
drums of the approaching rufiEians were heard in 
the village, in which they quickly appeared, and 
rushed into the church. But they found it empty, 
except for the statues, with which, in their repubh- 
can garb, they dared not meddle, so they turned 
their fury upon the presbytere, and when the good 
Abbe returned he found the church uninjured, but 
all the contents of his house stolen or destroyed. 
As far as possible, M. and Mme. de Montagu led 
the simple patriarchal life they preferred at Fon- 
tenay, where they were adored by the people, to 
whom they devoted their time, money, and atten- 
tion. Under the trees before the castle stone 
benches were placed for the peasants who came 
on Sunday evenings to sit about and dance, and 
the young people with whom the old chateau was 
always filled joined eagerly in their festivities. 

The harmony and affection that had characterised 
the daughters of the Duchess d'Ayen were equally 
conspicuous among her grandchildren, and the 
numerous relations — sons, daughters, nephews, 
nieces, and cousins — formed one united family. 
If there existed differences of opinion, they did 
not interfere with the affection between those who 
held them. 

The daughter of the Vicomtesse de Noailles was 
married to the Marquis de Verac. Of the sons, 
Alexis, between whom and Pauline there was an 



264 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

especially deep affection, and whose principles 
entirely agreed, refused to accept any employment 
under the government of Buonaparte. In conse- 
quence of the part he took in favour of the Pope 
he was imprisoned, and only released by the 
influence of his brother Alfred, an ardent soldier 
in the Imperial army, who, after distinguishing 
himself and winning the favour of the Emperor, 
was killed in the Russian campaign. 

Though her winters were generally spent in Paris, 
Pauline only went out quietly amongst her own 
friends, not entering at all into the society of the 
imperial court, which was altogether objectionable 
to her. 

The Restoration was received with rapture by 
her and most of her family, not even La Fayette 
himself holding aloof from the welcome to the 
King. 

Alexis de Noailles, who had left France during 
the reign of Napoleon, entered Paris with the 
Comte d'Artois ; the King and the Duchesse 
d'Angouleme received with distinguished favour 
those who had suffered so much in their cause ; 
the Due de Noailles came from Switzerland and 
took possession of the hotel de Noailles, just vacated 
by the Arch-treasurer of the Empire. 

But as the size and grandeur of such a residence 
was no longer suitable to the altered fortunes of its 
master, he sold it, and only occupied the part called 
the petit hotel de Noailles, where Mme. de Montagu 
also had an apartment. 

The rest of her life was spent in peace amongst 
her family, by whom she was adored, in the prac- 



LA MARQUISE DE MONTAGU 265 

tices of charity and devotion, which had always 
made her happiness. 

Mme. de Tesse died in 1813, only a week after the 
death of her husband, without whom she said that 
she did not think she could live. 

Severe as was her loss to Pauline a more terrible 
calamity happened to her in 1824, in the death of 
her only son Attale, who was killed by an accident 
when out shooting, leaving a young wife and 
children to her care. 

Her daughters ^ all married, and in them her sons- 
in-law, and grandchildren she found constant interest 
and happiness : the Due d'Ayen also, after the 
death of his second wife, gave up his Swiss house 
and came to end his days with his favourite daughter 
at Fontenay. 

The death of her husband in 1834 was her last 
great sorrow, she survived him five years, and died 
in January, 1839, at the age of seventy-three, sur- 
rounded by those she loved best, who were still 
left her. 

She neither feared death nor desired it, her life 
was spent for others not for herself, she regretted to 
leave them, but the thought of the other world, and 
of those who had gone before her, drew her heart 
towards that radiant, immortal future, the thought of 
which had ever been her guide and consolation. 

Rosalie de Grammont survived her for thirteen 
years, and died at the age of eighty-five — the last of 
the five sisters. 

* Mme. de la Romagere, the Comtesse d'Auberville and the 
Comtesse du Pare. 



Ill 
MADAME TALLIEN 



CHAPTER I 

Terezia Cabarrus — Comes to Paris— Married to the Marquis de 
Fontenay — Revolutionary sympathies — Unpopularity of Royal 
Family — The wig of M. de Montyon — The Comte d'Artois and 
his tutor — The Comte de Provence and Louis XV. 

AN abyss of separation lies between the two 
women whose life-histories have just been 
related, and the one of whose stormy career a sketch 
is now to be given. 

In education, principles, conduct, and nationality, 
they were absolutely different, but each of them was 
typical of the time, the class, and the party to which 
she belonged. 

Terezia Cabarrus was a Spaniard, though she had 
also French blood in her veins. Her father, 
director of an important bank in Madrid, distin- 
guished himself in the financial world, and was 
created Count by Charles IV. 

Terezia was born at Madrid about the year 1772, 
and was the only daughter of Count Cabarrus, 
whose fortunes had rapidly risen, and who being 
a man of sense and cultivation was resolved to give 
his children the best possible education. 

Terezia studied Latin with her brothers, spoke 

Spanish, Italian, and French, with almost equal 

fluency, conversed with ease and vivacity, sang and 

269 



270 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

danced enchantingly. Besides all this she was so 
extraordinarily beautiful, that she attracted general 
attention. 

She was still very young when her father sent her 
to Paris with her brothers to complete their educa- 
tion, in the charge of an old abbe, their tutor, but 
to be also under the care of the Marquis de Bois- 
geloup and his wife, old friends of their father, in 
whose family they were to live. When they arrived 
they found that the Marquis de Boisgelottp, Seigneur 
de la Mancelieve and conseiller du Roi et du parlementy 
had just died. 

Mme. de Boisgeloup, however, received the 
children with the greatest kindness, her two boys 
were companions for the young Cabarrus, and as for 
Terezia, she loved and treated her like a daughter. 
They lived in the rue d'Aitjou, and when the follow- 
ing year her father arrived at Paris and bought a 
hotel in the place des Victoires she still spent less of 
her time with him than with her. 

It was in the days when the Queen was giving 
fetes at Trianon, when the court quarrelled about 
the music of Gluck and Piccini, and listened to the 
marvels related by the Comte de Saint-Germain, 
when every one talked about nature, and philosophy, 
and virtue, and the rights of man, while swiftly and 
surely the Revolution was drawing near. 

That the head of an excitable, thoughtless girl not 
sixteen, should be turned by the whirl of pleasure 
and admiration into which she was launched, can- 
not be surprising. 

Among the numbers of men who made love to 
her more or less seriously, two were especially con- 



MADAME TALLIEN 271 

spicuous, the Prince de Listenay and the Marquis 
de Fontenay. 

About the former, who was deeply in love with 
her, and most anxious to make her his wife, she did 
not care at all. She found him tiresome, and even 
the prospect of being a princess could not induce 
her to marry him. Besides, she had taken a fancy 
to the Marquis de Fontenay, whom she had first 
met at the house of Mme. de Boisgeloup, who was 
much older than herself, and as deplorable a 
husband as a foolish young girl could choose. 

He also had been Conseiller du parlement, first at 
Bordeaux, then at Paris ; though by no means a 
young man, he was exceedingly handsome, fascin- 
ating, and a well-known viveur, added to which he 
was an inveterate gambler. It was said that when 
he was not running after some woman he was 
always at the card-table ; in fact his reputation was 
atrocious. But his charming manners and various 
attractions won Terezia's heart. Mme. de Boisge- 
loup wrote to Count Cabarrus, who was then in 
Madrid, saying that the Marquis de Fontenay 
wished to marry his daughter, and did not care 
whether she had any fortune or not ; the wedding 
took place, and the young Marquise was installed at 
his chateau of Fontenay near Paris.^ 

At first all went on prosperously. The Marquis 
de Fontenay did not belong to the haute noblesse, 
but his position amongst the noblesse de robe was 
good, and his fortune was at any rate sufficient to 
enable Terezia to entertain lavishly, and to give 

' Not to be confounded with Fontenay-Tresigny. There are a 
number of places named Fontenay. 



272 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

fetes which caused a sensation even at Paris, while 
her beauty became every day more renowned. 

Whateverrehgious teaching she may have received 
she had thrown off its influence and principles, and 
ardently adopted the doctrines of the Revolution. 
Freedom, not only from tyranny, but from religion, 
law, morality, restraint of any kind, was the new 
theory adopted by her and by the party to which 
she belonged. 

She was surrounded by those who talked of virtue, 
but practised vice ; her husband was amongst the 
most corrupt of that vicious society ; they soon 
ceased to care for each other ; and she was young, 
beautiful, worshipped, with the hot Spanish blood 
in her veins and all the passion of the south in her 
nature, what but one result could be expected ? 

The King, the royal family, but especially the 
Queen, were becoming every day more unpopular, 
the reforms introduced seemed to do no good, only 
to incite the populace to more and more extortionate 
demands. The King, having neither courage nor 
decision, inspired neither confidence nor respect. 

The Comte de Provence, his brother, remarks in 
his souvenirs : " The court did not like Louis XVI., 
he was too uncongenial to its ways, and he did not 
know how to separate himself from it, and to draw 
nearer to the people, for there are times when a 
sovereign ought to know how to choose between 
one and the other. What calamities my unfortunate 
brother would have spared himself and his family, 
if he had known how to hold with a firm hand the 
sceptre Providence had entrusted to him." ^ 

' " Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. i, p. 17. 



MADAME TALLIEN 273 

Nothing but reforms were talked of when 
Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette came to the 
throne ; but of course everything proposed excited 
the opposition and ridicule of one party or the 
other. 

The following song, one of the many circulating 
at the time, is a specimen of the least objectionable 
of its kind : 

*' Or, ecoutez, petits et grands, 
L'histoire d'un roi de vingt ans, 
Qui va nous ramener en France 
Les bonnes moeurs et I'abondance. 
D'apres ce plan que deviendront 
Et les catins et les fripons ? 

S'il vent de I'honneur et des moeurs, 
Que deviendront nos grands seigneurs ? 
S'il aime les honnetes femmes, 
Que deviendront nos belles dames ? 
S'il bannit les gens deregles 
Que feront nos riches abbes ? 

S'il dedaigne un frivole encens, 
Que deviendront les courtisans ? 
Que feront les amis du prince 
Autrement nommes en province ? 
Si ses sujets sont ses enfants, 
Que deviendront les partisans ? 

S'il vet qu'un prelat soit chretien, 
Un magistrat homme de bien, 
Combien de juges mercenaires, 
D'eveques et de grands vicaires, 
Vont changer de conduite, amen. 
Dominiis salvtim fac regent." ' 

The Queen had no idea of economy, and the 
Comte d'Artois was still more extravagant and heed- 
^ " Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. i, p. 290. 
19 



274 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

less. Many were the absurd stories told of him, 
harmless and otherwise. Of the first description 
is the affair of the wig of M. de Montyon. 
Arriving early one morning to speak to him, and 
seeing no servants about, he mistook the door and 
walked unannounced into a room where he saw a 
young man in his shirt sleeves, with his hair all 
rough and his toilette very incomplete, who, as- 
tonished at the sudden entrance of a magistrate in 
an enormous wig, asked him brusquely what he 
was doing there. 

M. de Montyon, taking him for a valet de pied, 
called him an insolent rascal for daring to speak to 
him in such a manner ; but no sooner were the 
words spoken than the young man snatched off his 
wig, rubbed it over his face and ran away with 
shouts of laughter. 

M. de Montyon was furious, he flew into a rage, 
called till he succeeded in attracting attention, and 
then, discovering that the young man he had called 
an insolent rascal was his royal Highness, Mon- 
seigneur le Comte d'Ariois, hurried away in dismay. 

The King hearing of the affair was much amused, 
but desired his brother to make it right with M. de 
Montyon, which he did to such good effect, that 
shortly after he gave him an appointment in his 
household. The Prince and the excellent magistrate 
afterwards met again in exile. 

Another and more reprehensible episode took place 
when the Comte d'Artois, then a lad of sixteen, was 
just going to be married to the younger sister of the 
Comtesse de Provence, daughter of the King of 
Sardinia. 



MADAME TALLIEN 275 

It was before the death of Louis XV., the court 
was at Compiegne, and the young Prince, since his 
marriage was decided, had been less strictly looked 
after by the Comte de Montbel, his sous gouverneur, 
who would not usually allow him to go alone into 
the thicker parts of the forest, not because of wild 
beasts but of other not less dangerous encounters 
which were possible. 

For some little time the Comte d'Artois had been 
regarding the sister of one of his valets depied with an 
admiration which she was evidently quite ready to 
return. Finding some difficulty in getting an inter- 
view with her, he applied to her brother who, de- 
lighted at the fancy of the Prince for his sister, and 
the probable advantages it might bring, promised 
his assistance, and arranged that the young girl, who 
was extremely pretty, should meet him dressed as 
a peasant in the cottage of a forester of Com- 
piegne. 

D'Artois accordingly told M. de Montbel that he 
wished to make an excursion into the forest, but 
when the carriage came round which had been 
ordered for him, he said he would rather walk, and 
took care to go so far out of the way that his tutor 
was very tired. 

The Prince, who was not tired at all, and who 
had arrived in sight of the cottage, said he would 
like some milk and would go and see the cows 
milked. 

" You stay here and rest, Montbel," he continued. 
" I will come back in a few minutes." 

M. de Montbel had waited for nearly an hour, 
when suddenly a suspicion seized him. Springing 



276 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

up suddenly he ran to the cottage, opened the door 
of one room, then another, then a third, and stood 
still with a cry of consternation. 

" Monsieur," said the Prince, coolly, " was there 
no one to announce you ? " 

Launching into angry threats against the valet de 
pied and his sister, and indignant reproaches to his 
pupil, M. de Montbel conductedhim back to the palace 
and went straight to the King. But Louis XV., with 
a fellow-feeling for the grandson whom he con- 
sidered the most like himself, could not restrain his 
laughter, ordered fifty louis to 'be given to the 
young girl, and dismissed the affair. 

The alliances with the House of Savoy were much 
more popular with the court than that with the 
House of Austria and Lorraine,'^ and caused con- 
tinual jealousies and disputes. Foreseeing that 
such would be the case, Louis XV., before the 
marriage of the Comte de Provence, thought it 
necessary to caution him on the subject. Louis 
XVin. gives in his memoirs 2 the following account 
of the interview : — 

"When my alliance with the Princess of Pied- 
mont was decided, the Due de Vauguyon told me 
that the King desired to speak to me. I trembled a 
little at an order which differed entirely from the 
usual regulations, for I never saw Louis XV. without 
d'Artois, and at certain hours. A private audience 
of his Majesty without my having asked for it gave 
me cause for anxiety. . . . 

' The Emperor, husband of Maria-Theresa, and father of Marie 
Antoinette, was Fran9ois de Lorraine. 
^ T. I, pp. 59-62. 



MADAME TALLIEN 277 

" Louis XV. stood leaning against a great inlaid 
bureau near the window. My grandfather was just 
then playing with a beautiful sporting dog of which 
he was very fond. I approached the King with 
timidity and embarrassment, but I soon perceived 
that he was in a good humour. ... 

" ' Bonjour, Proven9al,' ^ he said. ' You are 
looking very well, and that is so much the better, 
ma foi ! for it has never been of more importance 
to you. You are going to be married.' 

" 'Your Majesty's orders have been communicated 
to me.' 

" 'They may have left out something,' replied he, 
laughing. ' I have no time to lose, and I tell you 
that I wish to be a great-grandfather as soon as 
possible.' 

" ' Sire, I know that it is my duty to obey your 
Majesty in all things.' 

" ' I have no doubt of it ; and if circumstances 
favour you, I hope you will leave M, le Dauphin 
far behind.' 

" I bowed with a half-smile that seemed to amuse 
the King. But resuming his usually grave and 
majestic air, he added — 

"'I particularly wished to see you, to warn you 
that you must take great care that your future wife 
never forgets what will be due from her to the 
Dauphine. Their two houses are divided, but all 
rivalry must be forgotten here, which would disturb 
the tranquillity of Versailles, and would supremely 
displease me. I know that you have sense beyond 
your age, therefore I flatter myself that you will not 
' His nick-name for his second grandson. 



278 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

do, nor allow to be done, anything with regard to 
the Dauphine which might displease her. Besides, 
your brother would not suffer it ; he loves his wife, 
and is determined that she shall be respected as she 
deserves. Keep watch, therefore, upon yours ; in 
fact, see that things go on in such a manner that I 
am not obliged to interfere.' 

" I replied to the King that this would be all the 
easier to me as I had no greater wish than to be on 
good terms with my brother and sister-in-law ; 
adding : ' I know the respect which I owe your 
Majesty, and that which the heir to the throne has a 
right to expect from me ; in which I hope never to 
be accused of having failed.' 

" ' Very well,' replied the King ; ' but what I fear 
is, that notwithstanding your good intentions, you 
will be surrounded by persons whose influence will 
mislead you, and owing to evil counsellors, your 
own abilities may perhaps even lead you to commit 
follies.' 

" ' I am certain, sire,' I answered hastily ; ' that 
nobody about me will be able to make me deviate 
from the line my own reason has already marked 
out. But as your Majesty has introduced the 
subject, may I be permitted to suggest that my 
sister-in-law has already near her some one who is 
scarcely calculated to maintain a good under- 
standing in the family ; I fear the partiality of the 
Abbe de Vermont for the House of Austria.' 

" ' Yes, my dear son,' said the King, making use 
for the first time of that paternal expression ; ' I 
know as well as you do that this abbe is not well- 
disposed towards us ; but can I take him away from 



MADAME TALLIEN 279 

a young woman whom he has educated,^ and who 
requires somebody to confide in ? Besides, she 
might choose worse ; he is a man without personal 
ambition, rehgious and upright, in spite of his 
leaning to the House of Austria. It will be the 
Dauphin's business to keep him within proper 
limits ; and now I have warned you about what 
made me most uneasy I feel more satisfied, for I 
desire above all things that the peace of my family 
should never be troubled.'" 

The interview closed to the mutual satisfaction of 
the King and his grandson, neither of them with the 
slightest idea of any more serious calamity than the 
quarrels at court between the Houses of Lorraine 
and Savoy being likely to interfere with the secure 
and magnificent tranquillity of their lives. But it 
wanted only eighteen years and a few months to 
the fall of the Bastille, and though the small-pox 
cut short the life of Louis XV. before the evil days, 
they were seen by many of his courtiers as old or 
older than himself. 

But nothing would ever have induced him as 
long as he lived to allow the States-General to be 
summoned. He regarded them with an unchanging 
abhorrence which seems prophetic. 

One evening, during his coucher, the conversation 
turning upon difficulties in the financial situation 
owing to the refusal of the parliaments of the 
different provinces to enregister certain taxes, a man 
highly placed in the King's household remarked — 

" You will see, sire, that all this will necessitate 
the assembly of the States-General " : whereupon 

' The Abbe de Vermont was the confessor of Marie Antoinette. 



28o HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Louis XV., abandoning the calm repose of his 
usual manner, seized him by the arm, exclaiming 
vehemently — 

" Never repeat those words ! I am not blood- 
thirsty, but if I had a brother and he were capable 
of offering such advice I would sacrifice him in 
twenty-four hours to the duration of the monarchy 
and the tranquillity of the kingdom." ^ 

It was remarked later that under Louis XIV. no 
one dared think or speak ; under Louis XV. they 
thought but dared not speak ; but under Louis XVI. 
every one thought and spoke whatever they chose 
without fear or respect. 

' Campan, "Memoires des Marie Antoinette, &c., &c.," t. i, 
p. 392. 




MARIE DE VICHY-CHAMHRON, MARQUISE DU DEFFAND 



To face page 281 



CHAPTER II 

The makers of the Revolution — Fete a la Nature — Tallien — 
Dangerous times — An inharmonious marriage — Colonel la 
Mothe — A Terrorist — The beginning of the emigration— A 
sinister prophecy. 

AS M. Ars^ne Houssaye truly remarks, the 
French Revolution was not made by the 
people. They imagine that they made it, but the 
real authors were Voltaire, Condorcet, Chamfort, 
the two Mirabeau, La Fayette and his friends, 
Necker, Talleyrand, Barras, Saint-Just, &c., nearly 
all gentlemen, mostly nobles ; by Philippe-Egalit^, 
Duke of Orleans and prince of the blood ; by Louis 
XVI. himself. 

The new ideas were the fashion, people, especially 
young people, believed with enthusiastic fervour in 
the absurd and impracticable state of things they 
imagined they were about to establish, but mean- 
while, though they talked of the rights of man and 
the sufferings of the people, they went on just the 
same, lavishing enormous sums upon dress, luxury, 
and costly entertainments. 

The stately order, the devotion and charity which 
filled the lives of the sisters de Noailles ; the ab- 
sorbing passion for her art which made the happi- 

aSi 



282 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

ness, the safety, and the renown of Louise Vigee, 
were not for Terezia. Her very talents were an 
additional danger and temptation, for they increased 
the attraction of her extraordinary beauty ; and in 
the set of which her friends were composed there 
could be no principles of right and wrong, because 
there was no authority to determine them. For if 
God did not exist at all, or only as a colourless 
abstraction, then the words " right " and " wrong " 
meant nothing, and what, in that case, was to 
regulate people's lives ? Why not injure their 
neighbours if it were convenient to themselves to 
do so ? Why should they tell the truth if they 
preferred to tell lies ? To some it would seem 
noble to forgive their enemies ; to others it would 
seem silly. To some, family affection and respect 
for parents would appear an indispensable virtue ; 
to others an exploded superstition. It was all a 
matter of opinion ; who was to decide when one 
man's opinion was as good as another ? But, 
however such theories might serve to regulate the 
lives of a few dreamy, cold-blooded philosophers 
occupied entirely with their studies and specula- 
tions, it seems difficult to understand that any one 
could really believe in the possibility of their con- 
trolling the average mass of human beings ; who, if 
not restrained by the fear of a supernatural power 
which they believe able to protect, reward, or 
punish them, are not likely to be influenced by 
the exhortations of those who can offer them no 
such inducements. Nevertheless, these ideas were 
very prevalent until Napoleon, who regarded them 
with contempt, declared that without religion no 



MADAME TALLIEN 283 

government was possible, and, whether he believed 
in it or not, re-established Christianity. 

Meanwhile, those who could not believe in God, 
set up as their guide the abstraction they called 
Nature, which, if they had followed to the logical 
consequences, would have led them back to the 
state of savages. There were, in fact, some who pro- 
posed to live out of doors with very scanty clothing, 
and who had begun to cut down a tree and light a 
fire when their plans of life were suddenly frustrated 
by the appearance of the police. 

But these were not the directions in which the 
guidance of Nature led most of her followers. It 
was not to a life of primitive simplicity and dis- 
comfort that Terezia and her friends felt themselves 
directed ; no, the hotel de Fontenay, in the rue de 
ParadiSf and the chateau of the same name in the 
country were the scene of ceaseless gaiety and 
amusement. La Rochefoucauld, Rivarol, Chamfort, 
La Fayette, the three brothers de Lameth, all of 
whom were in love with their fascinating hostess ; 
Mirabeau, Barnave, Vergniaud, Robespierre, Camille 
Desmoulins — all the leaders of the radical party 
were to be met at her parties, and most of them 
were present at a splendid entertainment given by 
the Marquis and Marquise de Fontenay to the 
Constituants at their chateau, and called, after the 
fashion of Rousseau, a fete a la Nature. 

The guests were met at the park gates by young 
girls dressed in white, who gave them bouquets of 
flowers ; they dined out of doors under the shade 
of chestnut-trees, while a band played airs from 
"Richard Cceur-de-Lion," "Castor et Pollux," &c. ; 



284 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

the only contretemps being a sudden gust of wind 
which took off the wigs of some of the guests : 
Robespierre amongst the number. Many beautiful 
women were present, but none could rival their 
lovely hostess. Toasts were drunk to her beauty, 
verses improvised to her Spanish eyes, her French 
esprit ; she was declared the goddess of the fete, 
queen being no longer a popular word. 

In all her life she never lost the recollection of 
the enchantment of that day, and many years later, 
in her altered surroundings, would say to her 
children, "Ah ! that day was the fete de ma 
jeunesse ! " 

The first meeting of Terezia with the man who 
was to play the most important part in her life took 
place in the studio of Mme. Le Brun, to be painted 
by whom was then the height of fashion. Mme. Le 
Brun, enraptured with her beauty and dissatisfied 
with her own representation of it, was a long time 
altering and retouching, and every day saw some 
new improvement to make. 

Mme. de Fontenay became impatient, for the 
sittings appeared to be interminable, and at last 
M. de Fontenay begged several of his friends to go 
and look at the portrait of his wife and give their 
opinion while it was still in the studio. It was in 
consequence more crowded than usual one day 
when M. de Fontenay, being also present, was 
joining in a conversation going on about David 
and his pictures. 

" You will see," said Rivarol, " that these haughty 
Romans whom M. Louis David has brought into 
fashion with his cold, hard painting, will bring us 




FRANCOIS MARIE AROUET DE VOLTAIRE 



To face fasre 284 



MADAME TALLIEN 285 

through a period of Cato and Brutus. It is the law 
of contrast. After the solemn airs of Louis XIV., 
the orgies of Louis XV. ; after the suppers of 
Sardanapalus - Pompadour, the milk and water 
breakfasts of Titus — Louis XVI. The French 
nation had too much esprit, they are now going 
to saturate themselves with stupidity." 

"And do you imagine," cried Mme. Le Brun, 
" that it is David who has given the taste for the 
antique ? It is not : it is I ! It was my Greek 
supper, which they turned into a Roman orgy, 
which set the fashion. Fashion is a woman. It 
is always a woman who imposes the fashion, as the 
Comtesse Du Barry said." 

" Apropos," exclaimed Mme. de Fontenay ; " have 
not you begun her portrait ? " 

" The poor Countess ! I am representing her 
reading a romance with the arms of the King. 
She is the only person who holds to the 
King now." 

The conversation was presently interrupted by a 
young man whom nobody seemed to know. 

As Mme. Le Brun had not many servants, he had 
found nobody to announce him, but entered without 
the least shyness, and walking up to M. de Rivarol, 
said that he wanted to speak to him about a pamphlet 
of his, now being printed at the establishment in 
which he was employed. There was a passage in 
it which they could not read or did not understand, 
and M. de Rivarol's servant having told him where 
his master was to be found, he had come after him. 

There had been a sudden silence when he entered ; 
no one saluted him but Mme. Le Brun, who greeted 



286 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

him with a smile, but all regarded him with curiosity. 
His dress was not like those of the gentlemen present, 
nor of their class at all ; it had a sort of Bohemian 
picturesqueness which rather suited his handsome, 
striking, sarcastic face ; he was very young, not 
more than about twenty, but he spoke and moved 
with perfect unconcern amongst the uncongenial 
society into which he had fallen. Mme. Le Brun, 
tired of the stupid, contradictory remarks of the 
amateurs who then, as now, were eager to criticise 
what they knew nothing about, and nearly always 
said the wrong thing, exclaimed impatiently — 
" You are all bad judges — 

" Detestables flatteurs, present le plus funeste, 
Que puisse faire aux arts la colere celeste ! 

" I do not believe one word of your opinions. I 
am like Moliere, I would rather appeal to my 
servant, but as she is not here I will, if you do not 
object, ask that young man, who does not look like 
a flatterer : he will tell us the truth." And turning 
to him, she said — 

" Monsieur, I have just been hearing so much 
nonsense about this portrait, that really I don't 
know whether I have been working like an artist 
or a sign-painter." 

" I will tell you, Madame," replied the young man, 
with an assurance that surprised every one present. 
They looked at him with astonishment, and he 
looked at the portrait, and still more earnestly at 
the Marquise de Fontenay, upon whom his long, 
ardent gaze made a strange impression. After a few 
moments' silence, Mme. Le Brun said — 



MADAME TALLIEN 287 

"Well, Monsieur, I am waiting for your criticism." 

" My criticism, Madame, is this. It seemed to me 
just now that they accused you of having made the 
eyes too small and the mouth too large. Well, if you 
will believe me, you will slightly lower the upper 
eyelids and open imperceptibly the corner of the 
lips. Thus you will have almost the charm of that 
sculpturesque and expressive face. The eyes will 
be still brighter when their brilliance shines from 
between the eyelids like the sun through the 
branches." 

With a few more words of mingled criticism and 
compliment, he bowed slightly and turned again to 
M. Rivarol 

It was Tallien. 

The next time they met he was secretary to 
Alexandre de Lameth. Terezia was standing on the 
steps of their hotel with Mme. Charles de Lameth 
when he came with his hands full of letters. 

Telling him that Alexandre was not in, Mme. de 
Lameth asked him to gather a bunch of roses for 
Mme. de Fontenay, which he did, and picking up 
one that fell, he kept it, bowed silently, and 
went in. 

Terezia questioned her friend about him, and was 
told that he was a good secretary, clever but idle, 
and of so bad a reputation that M. de Lameth was 
waiting for an opportunity to get rid of him. 

Tallien was the acknowledged son of the maitre- 
d'hotel of the Marquis de Bercy, but strongly 
suspected of being the son of the Marquis himself, 
who was his godfather and paid his expenses at a 
college from which he ran away when he was 



288 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

fifteen. Already an athiest and a revolutionist, 
besides being a lazy scoundrel who would not work, 
he was, after a violent scene with the Marquis, aban- 
doned by him, after which he quarrelled with his 
reputed father, a worthy man with several other 
children, who declined to support him in idleness, 
and threatened him with his curse. " Taisez-vous, 
moil pere, cela ne se fait plus dans le monde," was the 
answer of the future septemhriseur. His mother, 
however, interposed, and it was arranged that he 
should continue to live at home and should study 
in the office of a procureur. Step by step he rose 
into notoriety, until he was elected a member of the 
commune of Paris, where he was soon recognised 
as one of the most violent of the revolutionists. 

In spite of his friendships with the leaders of the 
Revolution, his adoption at first of many of their 
ideas, and the fete Constitutionelle he gave in 
their honour, M. de Fontenay, like many others, 
began to see that things were going much further 
than he expected or wished. He was neither a 
young, foolish, generous enthusiast like La Fayette, 
de Segur, de Noailles, and their set, nor a low 
ruffian thirsting for plunder and bloodshed, nor a 
penniless adventurer with everything to gain and 
nothing to lose ; but an elderly man of rank, 
fortune, and knowledge of the world, who, however 
he might have tampered with the philosophers and 
revolutionists, as it was the fashion to do, had no 
sort of illusions about them, no sympathy whatever 
with their plans, and the greatest possible objection 
to being deprived of his title of Marquis, his pro- 
perty, or his life. In fact, he began to consider 



MADAME T ALLIEN 289 

whether it would not be more prudent to leave the 
country and join M. Cabarrus in Spain, for he was 
not separated from his wife, nor was there any open 
disagreement between them. They simply seem to 
have taken their own ways, which were not likely to 
have been the same. Terezia was then much more 
inclined to the Revolution than her husband, believ- 
ing with all the credulity of youth in the happiness 
and prosperity it was to establish. Of her life 
during 1791 and the first part of 1792 little or 
nothing is known with any certainty, though Mme. 
d'Abrantes relates an anecdote told by a Colonel 
La Mothe which points to her being in Bordeaux, 
living or staying with her brother, M. Cabarrus, and 
an uncle, M. Jalabert, a banker, each of whom 
watched her with all the jealousy of a Spanish 
duenna, the brother being at the same time so 
disagreeable that it was almost impossible to be in 
his company without quarrelling with him. 

Why, in that case, Terezia should have allowed 
them to interfere with her appears perplexing, as 
they would, of course, have had no authority to do 
so. M. La Mothe proceeded to say that he and a 

certain M. Edouard de C , both of whom were 

in love with her, accompanied them to Bagneres de 

Bigorre. There he and Edouard de C quarrelled 

and fought a duel, in which he, M. La Mothe, was 
wounded ; whereupon Terezia, touched by his 
danger and returning his love for her, remained to 
nurse him, while his rival departed ; and informing 
her uncle and brother that she declined any further 
interference on their part, dismissed them. That 
the uncle returned to his bank in Bayonne, and 



igo HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

the brother, with Edouard de C , to the army ; 

that Cabarrus was killed the following year ; and 
that, after some time, M. La Mothe and Terezia were 
separated by circumstances, he having to rejoin his 
regiment, while she remained at Bordeaux. ^ But 
however the principles she had adopted may have 
relaxed her ideas of morality, they never, as will be 
seen during the history of her life, interfered with 
the courage, generosity, and kindness of heart 
which formed so conspicuous a part of her 
character, and which so often met with such 
odious ingratitude. 

In the latter part of the summer of 1792 she was 
in Paris, which, in spite of her revolutionary pro- 
fessions, was no safe abode even for her, certainly 
not for her husband. The slightest sympathy shown 
to an emigre, a priest, a royalist, or any one marked 
as a prey by the bloodthirsty monsters who were 
rapidly showing themselves in their true colours, 
might be the death-warrant of whoever dared to 
show it. So would any word or gesture of dis- 
approval of the crimes these miscreants were 
ordering and perpetrating. Their spies were every- 
where, and the least accusation, very often only 
caused by a private grudge, was enough to bring a 
person, and perhaps their whole family, to prison 
and the scaffold. In the early days of the Terror, 
the well-known actor Talma, hearing an acquaint- 
ance named Alexandre, a member of his own pro- 
fession, giving vent in a benign voice to the most 
atrocious language of the Terrorists, indignantly 
reproached him. 

' " Salons de Paris " (Duchcsse d'Abrantes). 



MADAME TALLIEN 291 

'^ Que tu es bon!" exclaimed Alexandre, drawing 
him aside. " Do you think I mean all that ? " 

" Then why say it ? " 

" Because that Terrorist is listening." 

" Who do you mean." 

" Who ? Why that little Bouchiez," indicating one 
of the officials of the theatre. " Whenever he is 
near me I say the same sort of things. I should 
say more if I could." 

" And why ? " 

" Because, if I spoke differently, he would denounce 
me to the Jacobins and have me guillotined." 

" He ! Why, I thought you were friends." 

" We ! friends I Allans done ! " 

*' Vous vous lutoyez."^ 

" What does that prove ? Do not all these brutes 
say tu nowadays ? " 

" Well, but you call yourself friends." 

" That's true ; but I don't like him any the better 
for that, the wretch ! Ah, I hate him ! how I hate 
him ! how I hate him ! But there he is coming 
back, so I shall begin again ! " And so he did.2 

To escape from France was now both difficult 
and dangerous. The first to emigrate had been the 
Comte and Comtesse d'Artois and their children, 
the Prince de Conde, Due de Bourbon, Due 
d'Enghien, Mile, de Conde, Prince de Lambesc, 
Marechaux de Broglie et de Castries, Due de la 
Vauguyon, Comte de Vaudreuil, and a long string 

' Tutoyev is an expression impossible to translate. It means the 
use of the second person singular, " thou," instead of " you," and is 
a mark of the greatest intimacy. 

^ "Souvenirs d'un Sexagenaire " (Arnault). 



292 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

of other great names — Mailly, Bourbon-Busset, 
d'Aligre, de Mirepoix, all the Polignac and Polastron, 
the Abbe de Vermont, &c. They left at night under 
borrowed names. The Queen fainted when she 
parted from the Duchesse de Polignac, who was 
carried unconscious to the carriage by the Comte 
de Vaudreuil.i 

The grief of the Duchesse de Polignac was 
aggravated by the recollection of a sinister prophecy 
which, although at the time it seemed incredible, 
was apparently being fulfilled in an alarming 
manner. The circumstances were as follows : — 

The Comtesse d'Adhemar, who held a post in the 
Queen's household, received one day a note from 
the Duchesse de Polignac, "Governess of the 
Children of France," asking her to go with her to 
consult a fortune-teller of whom every one was 
talking. For many persons who declined to believe 
in God were ready and eager to put confidence in 
witchcraft, fortune-telling, spiritualism, or any other 
form of occult proceedings. 

Carefully disguising themselves, they set off 
together — of course, at night — taking only the 
Duchess's maid, Mile. Robert, who, though devoted 
to her mistress, had been silly enough to persuade 
her to this folly, and by an old porter belonging to 
the palace, who knew the way. 

Through many little, narrow streets they at last 
got out into the country, and arrived at the filthy, 
ruinous cottage where lived the fortune-teller. 
They gave her each an ecu, not wishing by too 
lavish a payment to betray themselves, and the 
' " Souvenirs de la Comtesse d'Adhemar." 



MADAME T ALU EN 293 

Comtesse d'Adhemar was the first to place her 
hand in the dirty, wrinkled one of the old gipsy, 
who, after telling her that she had had two 
husbands, and would have no more, added, " You 
are now in the service of a good mistress, who loves 
you ; but before long she will send you away 
against her will, but she will no longer be free to 
do as she chooses." 

Then, taking the hand of Mme. de Polignac she 
turned it over several times, examining it carefully, 
and said : " You are, like the other, in the service of 
the same lady, who loves you so much that she 
confides to you her most precious jewels. You 
love her just as much, but still, in a short time 
you will leave that lady in haste, and what is more, 
you will not feel tranquil until you have put three 
great rivers between you and her. She will cry 
bitterly when you leave her and yet be very glad of 
the separation." 

Mme. de Polignac shuddered ; exclaiming that 
she would never of her own accord leave her 
mistress, or if an absence was necessary to her health 
it should be a short one. 

" Oh ! for that matter," said the gipsy, " it will 
have no limit." 

" What ! Shall I never see my mistress again ? " 

"No." 

" Why ? " 

" Because she will die," 

A cry of horror escaped the two friends and Mile. 
Robert began to threaten the gipsy. 

" Hold your tongue, tete-qui-roule," she cried 
angrily. " Your body will be food for dogs." 



294 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Horror-stricken and frightened they hurried from 
the cottage, but the prophecies were all fulfilled. 
Marie Antoinette rejoiced at their parting as they 
were going to safety. The three rivers were ap- 
parently the Seine, Rhine, and Danube which 
Mme. de Polignac crossed on her way to Vienna. 
As to Mile. Robert, she paid with her life for her 
faithful affection for her mistress. Insisting on 
remaining in Paris to look after her interests she 
was arrested on the loth of August and perished in 
the September massacres. 

The Queen and the Comte d'Artois were the most 
hated and threatened of the royal family. Now, as 
always, they urged the miserable Louis to defend 
himself as his forefathers would have done ; the 
Prince de Conde was of their opinion. Let the 
King defend himself when his palace was attacked, 
and, if necessary, sally out at the head of his loyal 
followers and either save his crown and his life, or, if 
that could not be, fall gloriously with his sword in 
his hand like a son of Henri IV., instead of being 
taken by his own subjects like a rat in a hole. 

Such were the exhortations which at one time or 
another were poured into the King's ears and to 
which he would never listen.^ There was no more 

' At one of the most terrible crises in 1792, the Queen went into 
the King's room and found him mending a lock and key. " Since 
you are so well used to handling steel ! " she exclaimed, " why do 
you not take a sword?" "A sword!" he said, mechanically. 
" You have played Titus," she went on, " now show yourself the 
descendant of Henry IV., the time has come, if you love your life 
you must, as chief of your race, try to conquer you*- kingdom ! " 
"You look on the dark side of things," said he, "things are going 

badly, but with time passions will calm down and then " 

" Another family will be on your throne. Sire," said she, throwing 



MADAME TALLIEN 295 

to be said. The Comte d'Artois declared he would 
never leave his brother unless expressly ordered to 
do so. Louis gave that command, desiring the 
Prince to escape with his wife and children to their 
sister Clotilde at Turin ; and then with tears and 
sobs the Comte and Comtesse d'Artois embraced 
the King and Queen and tore themselves away. 

The Comte de Provence did not emigrate so 
soon. He had been more inclined to liberal ideas 
and was less unpopular than the Comte d'Artois. 
It was not until the time of the unfortunate attempt 
on the royal family that he also resolved to escape, 
and his plans, being well-arranged and properly 
carried out, succeeded perfectly. 

He was then living in the Luxembourg, and 
having made all preparations, he went to bed as 
usual and drew the curtains ; the valet-de-chambre, 
who always slept in a bed rolled into his room, 
went away to undress. When he was gone, the 
Comte de Provence got up, passed into his dressing- 
room, where his devoted friend and confidant, 
M. d'Avaray, awaited him and helped him to dress. 
Passing out by a small door that was not guarded, 
they got into a carriage waiting for them in the 
courtyard of the Luxembourg and drove away. 

herself on her knees. " In the name of God, of your children, of your 
subjects, of your poor sister who has sacrificed herself to stay with 
us, cease to persist in this fatal apathy." , . . With a voice broken 
by sobs and tears she went on with her entreaties. The King laid 
down his tools, looked at her with sorrowful embarrassment, and 
said it was not his fault, she must have patience ! ! 

When, after being forced to hear in the Assembly the deposition 
of the King, Marie Antoinette exclaimed, " Ah ! Sire, it would 
have been better to have died all together in the Tuileries " 
(" Souvenirs de Comtesse d'Adhemar "). 



296 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

He met the Comtesse de Provence as they had 
arranged, having taken the precaution of escaping 
separately. They arrived at Brussels in safety, and 
afterwards joined their brother and sister at the 
court of the Countess's father, at Turin, where they 
were joyfully received by the Princess Clotilde, and 
afterwards rejoined by their aunts.^ 

'"Souvenirs d'un Sexagenaire " (Arnault). "Souvenirs de 
Louis XVIII." 



CHAPTER III 



The loth of August — The September massacres — Tallien — The 
emigrant ship — Arrest at Bordeaux — In prison — Saved by 
Tallien. 



ON the loth of August, 1792, as every one knows, 
the fury of the Revolution broke out in the 
attack upon the Tuileries. For the third time 
T^r^zia saw Tallien soon after that carnival of 
horror and bloodshed of which he was one of the 
leading spirits ; when a few days after it she sat 
in one of the tribunes of the Assembly and 
applauded the fiery speech in which he defied the 
enemies of France, for the armies of the allies and 
the emigres were gathering on the frontier, eager 
to avenge the atrocities which had been and 
were being committed, and rescue the royal family. 
Unluckily it was another failure. The incompe- 
tence of the leaders, the delays, the mismanagement, 
the mistakes, the disasters, cannot of course be 
entered into in a sketch like this, but the effect it 
had upon the fate of those still in prison and in 
danger who remained in the hands of the tigers 
thirsting for their blood, was terrible indeed. 

No sooner had the news of their first ephemeral 
297 



298 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

successes at Longwy and Verdun arrived at Paris, 
and at the same time the rising in La Vendue be- 
come known, than there was a rush to arms, to the 
frontier, to drive back the invaders from the soil of 
France. The revolutionists seized their opportunity 
to declare that the royalists left in France would 
help the invaders by conspiring at home. It was 
enough. The thirst for blood and slaughter, never 
equalled or approached by any other civilised 
nation, which characterised the French Revolution, 
burst forth with unheard of atrocity. The Septem- 
ber massacres were the result, and of the order for 
this horrible crime Tallien and Danton were chiefly 
accused. 

Danton did not attempt to deny the part he had 
taken, but declared that it was necessary to strike 
terror amongst their opponents and that he accepted 
the responsibility. 

Tallien had stepped into the place of Guy de 
Kersaint, deputy of Versailles, who, though a revolu- 
tionist, objected to massacres.^ He tried to explain 
and excuse them by the fury and excitement of the 
time when he perceived the horror with which they 
were regarded, not only by the civilised world at 
large, but by many of the revolutionists, even by 
some of his own colleagues. However, the brand 
of infamy remained attached to his name, not- 
withstanding his endeavours to clear himself from 

' Guy de Kersaint, after the September massacres, sent in his 
resignation, saying " If the love of my country has made me endure 
the misfortune of being the colleague of the panegyrists and 
promoters of the assassinations of the 2nd of September I will at 
least protect my memory from being their accomplice." — " Notre 
Dame de Thermidor" (Arsene Houssaye). 



MADAME T ALU EN 299 

the suspicion and accusation which have neverthe- 
less always clung to him. 

"There are many," he said in one of his speeches, 
" who accuse me of being a murderer of the 2nd of 
September, to stifle my voice because they know I 
saw it all. They know that I used the authority I 
possessed to save a great number of persons from 
the hand of the assassin, they know that I alone in 
the midst of the Commune, dared throw myself 
before the sanguinary multitude to prevent their 
violating the depots entrusted to the Commune. I 
defy any one to accuse me of crime or even of weak- 
ness. I did my duty on that occasion. . . ." But 
the name of " septembriseiir" clung to him for ever 
in spite of his protestations. 

Through all this time it is not clear exactly where 
T^r^zia was, probably at Paris and at Fontenay, but 
the relations between herself and her husband did 
not improve, and without any violent enmity 
between them, she had several times thought of 
getting a divorce from him. 

She had not done so, however, and had even 
consented to his plan of their both leaving France 
and taking refuge with her father in Spain. She 
wished no harm to M. de Fontenay, and although 
in spite of all that had happened she still believed in 
the Revolution, its principles, and future results, she 
was horrified at the cruelty and atrocities going on 
around her at present. 

She was conscious also that her own position 
was not safe. She had many friends amongst the 
Girondins, and now terrified at their fall she felt 
that she was compromised by her association with 



300 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

them ; her husband was an additional peril to her, 
for the new abomination called loi contre des suspects 
was aimed at those against whom no tangible thing 
could be brought forward, but who might be 
accused of " having done nothing for the Republic " 
and would certainly apply to him. M. de Fontenay 
had hidden himself for a time and then reappeared, 
and seeing they were both in great danger she agreed 
to his proposal and they went first to Bordeaux, intend- 
ing shortly to put the Pyrenees between themselves 
and the Revolution. But swiftly and suddenly the 
danger that had struck down so many of their 
acquaintances fell like a thunderbolt upon them. 

They were staying with an uncle of hers at 
Bordeaux when she heard one day that an English 
ship with three hundred passengers, chiefly royahsts 
of Bordeaux, but all of them persons flying from 
France, was on the point of sailing, but was detained 
because the captain, whose conduct in this matter 
one cannot help saying few Englishmen indeed 
would not have despised, refused to sail until he had 
received three thousand francs wanting to the sum 
owing by the emigrants. 

Indignant at the avarice which risked the lives of 
the unfortunate passengers, T^r6zia, disregarding 
the remonstrances and warnings of her husband and 
uncle, ordered a carriage, drove to find the captain, 
paid him the three thousand francs, and returned in 
triumph with a list of the passengers which she had 
made the captain give her instead of the receipt he 
wished to write. 

But while T^r^zia congratulated herself that she 
had happened to be at Bordeaux, the story got 



MADAME T ALLIEN 301 

about, and the fierce populace were infuriated at 
the escape of their intended prey. Their first 
revenge was directed towards the captain, through 
whose unguarded talk about "a beautiful woman 
who looked like a grande dame, and had suddenly 
appeared and paid him the money," was the cause 
of the mischief. They made a furious attack upon 
him, several of them rushing at him to drag him to 
the guillotine. But if he was avaricious the English 
captain was brave and strong, so, drawing his sword 
with shouts and thr#ats he wounded three or four, 
drove back the rest, regained his ship, and set sail 
for England. 

As Terezia was walking in the town with her two 
uncles they were suddenly surrounded by a furious 
crowd, who, with shouts of " La voila ! La voiUi ! 
celle qui a sauve les aristocrates," surrounded her, 
and in a moment she was separated from her 
uncles, her mantilla torn off, while angry voices, 
with fierce threats, demanded the list of fugitives. 

" What do you want with me ? " she asked coolly, 
" I am not an enemy of the people ; you can see by 
my cockad© that I am a patriot." 

" Let her give us the list ! " was the cry. 

Seeing at once what was the question, she 
answered : " You are mistaken, citoyens, those who 
embarked were not contre-revolutionnaires." 

" Well, then, give us the list for you have it in 
your bosom ! " And one brutal fellow tried to tear 
her corsage to get it. 

Thrusting him away she pulled out the list, 
held it up to the sans-culottes, and exclaimed with 
defiance — ■ 



302 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

" I will never give it you ! If you want to get it, 
kill me ! " And she swallowed it. 

At that moment Tallien, who had been sent to 
Bordeaux by the Revolutinary authorities, appeared 
upon the scene. 

" Stop ! " he cried ; " I know that woman." 

He did not, in fact, recognise her at all, but he 
wished to save her. Turning to the crowd, he 
said — 

" If she is guilty she belongs to justice. But you 
are too magnanimous to strike an unarmed enemy, 
above all, a woman." 

Just then Lacomb, president of the tribunal, who 
had been told that the aristocrats who went with 
the English captain were saved by her, came up a,nd 
ordered her arrest. 

At the same time Tallien recognised the Marquise 
de Fontenay. 

Terezia, therefore, found herself in one of the 
horrible prisons of that Revolution whose progress 
she had done everything in her power to assist. In 
the darkness and gloom of its dungeon she after- 
wards declared that the rats had bitten her feet. 

In a very short time, however, she was summoned 
out of the prison and conducted by the gaolers into 
the presence of Tallien. 

In the fearful tragedy of the French Revolution, 
as in many earlier dramas in the history of that 
nation, one can hardly fail to be struck by the 
extreme youth of many, perhaps most, of the 
leading characters, good or bad. And the hero 
and heroine of this act in the revolutionary drama 
were young, and both remarkable for their beauty. 



MADAME T ALU EN 303 

Tallien, the member of the Assembly, the blood- 
stained popular leader, the pro-consul before whom 
everyone trembled in Bordeaux, was five-and-twenty. 
The Marquise de Fontenay, who stood before him, 
knowing that her life was in his hands, was not yet 
twenty. 

The position was changed indeed since their first 
meeting, when, unknown and unconsidered, he was 
invited, in a manner that could scarcely be called 
complimentary, to criticise the portrait of the 
beautiful, fashionable woman who now stood before 
him as lovely as ever, her face pale, and her soft 
dark eyes raised anxiously to his, but without any 
symptom of terror. 

From the first moment of this interview Tallien 
was seized with an overpowering passion for her, 
which he was compelled to conceal by the presence 
of the gaoler, who waited to re-conduct the prisoner 
to her cell, and before whom if he showed either 
pity or sympathy, in spite of all his power as a 
leader of the Revolution, he would endanger his own 
safety and increase her danger. Therefore he only 
bowed, signed to her to sit down, and took a chair 
opposite her. 

" You recognised me ? " she asked. 

" Yes, citoyenne ; why are you at Bordeaux ? " 

" Because every one is in prison at Paris ; even 
the revolutionists. And I am a revolutionist." 

"We are not blind," said Tallien. "We only 
strike the enemies of the Republic." 

" The prisons are blind, then," retorted Terezia ; 
" for both at Paris and here true republicans are 
groaning in fetters." 



304 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

She spoke in the inflated style of the time, which 
belonged especially to the ranting, extravagant, 
theatrical phraseology of that strange collection of 
individuals who now held supreme power in the 
country so recently the most civilised and polished 
in the world. 

"If the prison is blind, the tribunal is not. Of 
what are you accused, citoyenne ? " 

" Of everything, I suppose, since there is nothing 
they can bring against me." 

" I heard you were intending to emigrate with the 
ci-devant Marquis de Fontenay." 

" Emigrate ? I never thought of such a thing. 
We were going to Spain to see my father, who is 
there." 

" Well, citoyenne, I shall give orders for your trial 
to come on at once before the tribunal. If the 
citoyen Fontenay is not guilty you are not either. 
In consequence you will be able to go on and see 
your father at Madrid." 

" Good God ! " cried Terezia ; " appear before 
your tribunal ! But I am condemned beforehand ! 
A poor creature who is the daughter of a count, 
the wife of a marquis, with a hand like this, which 
has never done any work but prepare lint for the 
wounded of the loth of August." 

" You are wrong, citoyenne, to doubt the justice of 
the tribunal, we have not created it to assassinate in 
the name of the law, but to avenge the republic and 
proclaim innocence." 

He spoke in the pompous jargon of the Revolu- 
tion, the language of his paper, L'Anii des Citoyens. 
Then turning to the gaoler he sent him away upon 



MADAME TALLIEN 305 

a message. When the door had closed behind the 
spy of his party, in whose presence even he himself 
dared not speak freely, he took the hand of Ter^zia 
and said in a gentle voice — 

" We are not tyrants." 

To which astounding assertion she replied in 
those terms of flattery in which alone it was safe to 
address the individuals who "were not tyrants," 
and whose motto was " Liberty, equality, and 
fraternity." 

" I suppose he who writes so eloquently in 
L'Ami des Citoyens is also the friend of the cito- 
yennes f If you are my friend, for the sake of the 
citoyenne, Lameth,i do not make me appear before 
that odious tribunal, on which you do not sit." 

" I cannot help it," answered he ; " the eyes of 
France are upon me. If I betrayed my commis- 
sion for the sake of a beautiful woman like you, 
Robespierre would not have thunderbolts enough 
to strike me with." 

"Just so," she said; "you all strike because you 
are afraid of being struck yourselves." 

" Well ; what do you want ? " 

" You know. I want liberty." 

" I understand." 

"And the liberty of M. de Fontenay." 

" Of that I wash my hands," he exclaimed hastily. 
Then softening his voice : " I was told you were 
divorced ? " 

" Perhaps so ; but at this moment I am more than 
ever the wife of my husband." 

" But if he is guilty and you are not ? " 
* Wife of Charles de Lameth. 
21 



3o6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

"Then I will be guilty too." 

There was a moment's silence, then Tallien spoke. 

" Well I it is worthy of the days of antiquity. 
But in these times it is not to a husband but to the 
nation that a citoyenne should sacrifice herself. If 
you have done any wrong to the Republic, it is in 
your power publicly to expiate it. In public affairs 
women must preach and set the example. If I ask 
for your liberty it must be on condition that you 
promise to be the Egeria of the Montague, as the 
Roland was of the Gironde." 

" I know neither the Montague nor the Gironde. 
I know the people, and I love and serve them. 
Give me a serge dress and I will go to the hospitals 
and nurse the sick patriots." 

" Sister of Charity, is that it ? No, no ; you must 
take a more active part ; you must stand in the 
tribune, and kindle the sacred fire in those who 
are not already burning with the religion of the 
Revolution. Already I can feel the fire of your 
words." And he drew nearer to her. 

"It is settled, then, citoyen, is it not ? You will 
give the order for my release ? We will start this 
evening for Spain, and you shall never hear of me 
again." 

Tallien's face fell. 

" Well ! you take everything for granted," he 
said. " I am glad to see that if ever you become 
powerful favours will fall from your hands as if by 
miracle." 

" I only care for power for the sake of mercy," 
she replied. " But now I am not appealing to your 
clemency, but to your justice." 



MADAME T ALU EN 307 

"Justice belongs to the people," replied Tallien, 
coldly. 

The Marquise felt that she had gone too far. 

" It is a mistake," she exclaimed. "If I appealed 
to justice it would be too slow ; but the beauty of 
clemency is that it is quick." 

And she threw herself upon her knees before 
him. 

"Rise, Madame!" exclaimed the young pro-consul. 
" I risk my head in this, but what does it matter ? 
You are free." 

And he clasped her in his arms. 

At this moment the gaoler returned, accompanied 
by the aide-de-camp for whom Tallien had sent. 

"Adieu, citoyenne," said Tallien, resuming his 
official manner. " My aide-de-camp will go at once 
to the revolutionary tribunal, while I myself explain 
to the Comite the error of which you are the 
victim." 

He signed to the gaoler, who conducted Mme. de 
Fontenay back to her cell ; and then sat down to 
write to Robespierre. 

"Every one betrays the Republic. The citoyen 
Tallien is granting pardon to aristocrats." ^ 

' The whole account of the arrest of Mme. de Fontenay and the 
interview with Tallien is taken from " Notre Dame de Thermidor," 
by M. Arsene Houssaye, who derived his information from her 
children, her letters, and other writings. 



CHAPTER IV 

Divorced — M. de Fontenay escapes to Spain — The mistress of 
Tallien — Her influence and his saves many lives — Robespierre 
— Singular circumstances at the birth of Louis XVII. — The 

vengeance of the Marquis de Enmity of Robespierre — 

Arrest of Terezia — La Force. 

THE next day was the divorce. M. de Fontenay 
hurried away towards the Pyrenees and dis- 
appeared from France and from the life and con- 
cerns of the woman who had been his wife. 

And Terezia, released from a marriage she had 
long disliked and to which no principle of duty or 
religion bound her, although she could scarcely be 
called free, fulfilled the conditions and accepted the 
part offered her willingly enough. She loved 
Tallien, who worshipped her with a passionate 
adoration which, far from concealing, they gloried 
in proclaiming. 

Terezia became a power in Bordeaux. She 

appeared everwhere in public wearing those scanty 

Greek draperies so well calculated to display the 

perfection of her beauty ; affecting the attitude of 

the Goddess of Liberty, v/ith a pike in one hand 

and the other resting upon the shoulder of Tallien. 

308 



MADAME TALLIEN 309 

The populace cheered as she drove about Bordeaux 
in a magnificent carriage which, had it belonged to 
a royalist, would have excited their rage. She 
harangued the Convention with bombastic speeches 
about women and virtue and modesty, which, to 
persons not besotted with frantic republicanism, must 
appear singularly out of place ; mingling her ex- 
hortations with flattery so fulsome and preposterous 
that she did not fail to command sympathetic 
acclamations, especially when she said that she was 
not twenty years old and that she was a mother but 
no longer a wife. 

Over the whole proceedings of Tallien and Terezia 
there was, in fact, an atmosphere and tone that can 
be best described as " flash " ; for no other word 
seems to be so thoroughly characteristic of them- 
selves, their friends, their sentiments, their speech, 
and their lives at this time. 

That Terezia was infinitely superior to her lover 
was not only shown by the progress of years and 
events, but was obvious in the early days of her 
liaison with Tallien. For her speeches in public 
and private were not merely empty bombastic talk. 
She really did everything in her power to rescue 
from danger and help in trouble the unfortunate 
people with whom she was surrounded. For she 
hated cruelty and bloodshed, and saw no reason or 
excuse for it ; in spite of the sophisms and theories 
of her republican friends. It made no difference to 
her to what party or class they belonged ; she would 
help any one who was in trouble and appealed to 
her. And her power was immense, for Tallien, who 
held life and death in his hands, was her slave, and 



3IO HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

even the savage Lacomb and Ysabeau, his colleagues, 
bowed before the charm of her influence. 

The Comite de salut public was composed of 
Barere, Carnot, Couthon, Billaud-Varennes, Collot- 
d'Herbois, Robert Lindet, Prieur, Jean-Bon Saint- 
Andre, Saint-Just, and Maximilian Robespierre ; as 
bloodthirsty a gang of miscreants as ever held an 
unfortunate country in their grip. 

Of these ruffians the most powerful and influential 
was Robespierre, who, though cruel, treacherous, 
and remorseless, was severely moral and abstemious, 
and whose anger was deeply aroused by the reports 
he received from Bordeaux. 

The life of luxurious splendour and open scandal 
Tallien led with his mistress irritated him nearly as 
much as the escape of the victims so frequently 
spared by his mercy, or rather by the all-powerful 
influence of the woman to whom all Bordeaux now 
looked for help and protection ; besides which the 
popularity they both enjoyed at Bordeaux excited 
his jealous uneasiness. 

But he did not at that time recall him to Paris, 
preferring that he should be a satrap at Bordeaux 
rather than a conspirator in the Convention ; and 
remarking contemptuously — 

" Those sort of men are of no use except to revive 
vices. They innoculate the people with the licen- 
tiousness of the aristocracy. But patience ; we will 
deliver the people from their corrupters, as we have 
delivered them from their tyrants." ' 

By caresses, by tyranny, by stratagems, T^rezia 
opened prison doors, obtained pardons, delivered 
' " Histoire des Girondins," t. 7, p. 266 (Lamartine). 



MADAME TALLIEN 311 

victims from the guillotine. Immense numbers of 
people were saved by her exertions. Several times 
her influence dissolved the Revolutionary Com- 
mittee ; under her reign people began to breathe 
freely at Bordeaux, and the Terror for a time 
seemed nearly at an end. 

Horrified at the hotel of Tallien being in the place 
de I' Echafaud, she exclaimed — 
" I will not come here again ! " 
" Well, I will come and live at your hotel." 
" No, I shall come back here. It is not you who 
will go away, it is the scaffold." 

To divert his thoughts and attention from the 
rigours and cruelties, for the perpetration of which 
he had been sent to Bordeaux, she persuaded him 
to have his portrait done, and induced him and the 
artist to prolong the sittings on pretence of making 
the picture a chef d'ceitvre, but in reality to occupy 
his time and attention ; in fact, he was found by 
some one who called to see him reclining comfort- 
ably in a boudoir, dividing his attention between 
the artist who was painting the portrait and Terezia, 
who was also present. 

The Marquis de Paroy, a royalist, whose father, 
a Girondist, had just been arrested, wrote to ask for 
an interview, sending an illustrated petition, in the 
taste of the day, to the "goddess of Bordeaux," 
with a Cupid he called a sans-ctdotte, &c. Having 
received an invitation, he went to her house, where, 
in the ante-rooms, crowds were waiting with peti- 
tions in their hands. Presently folding doors were 
thrown open and Terezia appeared, exquisitely 
dressed, asked for the citoyen Paroy, and invited 



312 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

him to come into her boudoir, which was filled 
with the traces of her pursuits. Music was upon 
the open piano, a guitar lay upon a sofa, a harp 
stood in a corner of the room, an easel, a half- 
sketched-out miniature, a table covered with draw- 
ings, colours, and brushes, an embroidery frame, a 
writing table piled with petitions, notes, and papers. 
After the first greeting she said — 

" I think I remember meeting you at the house of 
the Comte de I'Estaing with my father, and I hope 
you will come and see me as often as you can. But 
let us speak of your father. Where is he in prison ? 
I hope to obtain his release from the citoyen Tallien. 
I will give him your petition myself, and present 
you to him." 

She did so on the following day, and Tallien 
advised him to wait. 

" Your father must be a little forgotten in order 
to save him. It all depends on the president of the 
tribunal, Lacomb." 

Terezia asked him to supper to meet the mistress 
of Ysabeau, whom she thought might influence 
Ysabeau in his favour. During the supper one of 
the revolutionary guests, observing a ring with a 
Love painted on it, and the inscription — 

" Qui que tu sois, voila ton maitre 
II Test, le fut, ou bien doit I'etre," 

kissed the ring, and handed it round to be kissed by 
all the rest, who little supposed that it was a portrait 
of the unfortunate Louis XVI L 

The breathing time given to unhappy Bordeaux 



MADAME TALLIEN 313 

came to an end. Tallien was recalled, and his place 
filled by the ferocious Jullien. 

But his position at Paris was too powerful and 
his friends too numerous to allow him to be at once 
attacked with impunity. It was Terezia who was to 
be the first victim. Robespierre dreaded her influ- 
ence, her talents, her popularity, her opinions, and 
the assistance and support she was to Tallien. 

The crimes and horrors of the Revolution had 
now reached their climax. Paris was a scene of 
blood and terror. No one's life was safe for an 
hour, houses were closed, the streets, once so full of 
life and gaiety, were now paraded by gangs of 
drunken ruffians, men and women, bent on murder 
and plunder, or re-echoed to the roll of the tumbrils 
carrying victims to the scaffold. The prisons were 
crammed, and yet arrests went on every day. The 
King, the Queen, and the gentle, saintly Madame 
Elizabeth, had been murdered ; the unfortunate 
Dauphin, now Louis XVII., and his sister were 
kept in cruel captivity. 

It had been remarked that at the moment of the 
birth of this most unfortunate of princes, the crown 
which was an ornament on the Queen's bed fell to 
the ground, which superstitious persons looked 
upon as a bad omen. 

Still more strange was the incident related by his 
uncle, the Comte de Provence, heir presumptive to 
the crown, which he afterwards wore. It happened 
immediately after the birth of the first Dauphin, 
elder brother of Louis XVII., whose early death 
saved him from the fate of his family. 

" The same evening 1 found on my table a 



314 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

letter carefully enclosed in a double envelope, 
addressed — 

" ' Pour Monsieur seul/ 

" I inquired in what manner the letter had arrived 
there, but all those in my service declared they 
knew nothing about it. 

" When I was alone I opened the mysterious 
letter, and by the light of my lamp I read as 
follows : — 

"'Console yourself. I have just cast the horo- 
scope of the child now born. He will not deprive 
you of the crown. He will not live when his father 
ceases to reign. Another than you, however, will 
succeed Louis XVI. ; but, nevertheless, you will 
one day be King of France. Woe to him who 
will be in your place. Rejoice that you are with- 
out posterity ; the existence of your sons would be 
threatened with too great calamities, for your family 
will drink to the dregs the most bitter contents of 
the cup of Destiny. Adieu ! Tremble for your life 
if you try to discover me. — I am 

" ' Death.' 

"I got up and made a copy of this letter . . ." 
but on fixing my eyes on the letters in white ink on 
black paper ... I saw them disappear. I recog- 
nised in this phenomenon a chemical preparation 
by which the mysterious characters would become 
absorbed after a certain time." ^ 

* "Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. ii., pp. 275-7 



MADAME TALLIEN 315 

No trace was ever found of the person who wrote 
or conveyed the letter. 

It is easy to see that the present state of affairs in 
France offered the most dangerous and the strongest 
temptation to private vengeance. Any one who 
had an enemy or who had been offended by any 
one else, or even who wished to remove some per- 
son whose existence was inconvenient to them, had 
only to "denounce" them for some trifle which 
they might or might not have said or done ; they 
were sure to be arrested, and most likely to be put 
to death. 

The following story is an example of the 
kind. 

The Marquis de , a proud, stern man of a 

reserved and apparently cold temperament, had a 
young wife whom he adored. Their married life 
went on prosperously for some years, at the end of 
which the young Marquise was seized with a fatal 
illness. When on her death-bed she confessed to 
her husband, who was nearly frantic with grief, that 
she had once, several years since, been unfaithful to 
him, that remorse in consequence had poisoned her 
happiness, and that she could not die in peace 
without his forgiveness. The Marquis consented 
to pardon her fault on condition that she would 
tell him the name of her seducer, which she did, 
after having extorted from her husband a solemn 
promise that he would not challenge him to a duel, 
as she feared the blood of one or the other might 
rest upon her soul. 

After her death the Marquis, who had no inten- 
tion of either breaking his oath or foregoing his 



3i6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

vengeance, shut up his chateau and went to Paris, 
though it was in the height of the Terror ; for he 
had heard that his enemy was there, and was 
resolved to find him. He was a cousin of the 

young Marquise, the Chevalier de , who had in 

the early days of their marriage stayed a good deal 

at the chateau of the Marquis de , and had 

requited the unsuspicious trust and hospitality of 
his host by making love to his wife. Then, in- 
fluenced by the remorse and entreaties of the 
Marquise, he had gone to Paris, and not been heard 
of for some time, but was believed to be living there 
in concealment. 

The death of his wife and the revelation she had 

made to him, plunged the Marquis de into 

such a fearful state that at first his reason was 
almost overcome ; and as he gradually recovered 
his self-possession the idea occurred to him to take 
advantage for his own purposes of the rumour cir- 
culated, that grief for the loss of his wife had 
affected his reason. 

Accordingly he pretended to be mad, and wan- 
dered all day about the streets of Paris, wearing an 
old Court dress and an enormous wig, talking 
extravagantly, making foolish jokes, but all the time 
looking for the Chevalier . 

His plan succeeded perfectly. He was soon well 
known to the police as an ex-noble driven mad by 
the death of his wife, and being considered harm- 
less, was allowed to go where he pleased unmolested. 

It was the only safeguard he could have found, 
as his rank and well-known opinions would have 
otherwise marked him for destruction. 



MADAME TALLIEN 317 

At last, one day in the rue St. Honore, he came 
suddenly face to face with his enemy, disguised as a 
workman. 

Rushing to him, he threw his arms round his 
neck, exclaiming — 

" Eh ! how are you, mon ami f I am delighted 
to see you, my dear Chevalier de " 

The Chevalier tried in vain to escape. The 
apparent madman seized him by the arm. 

" Let me go ! " he cried. " You are mistaken. I 
don't know 3'ou." 

" You don't remember me ? Your friend, your 
relation, the Marquis ? " 

" Yes, I remember you now ; but let me go." 

A crowd began to gather, and he went on in a 
loud voice — 

" I recognised you directly in spite of your dress, 
your beard, your dyed hair, and false scar." 

" Do you wish me to be lost ? " 

" Lost ? Certainly not. I have only just found 
you, and shall not let you go. I am going to take 
you to dine with me, my dear Chevalier de " 

" Speak lower," implored the Chevalier. " Are 
you mad ? " 

" Ah 1 you, too, call me mad. It is an insult ! " 

The Chevalier tore away his arm, the Marquis 
struck him a furious blow, the police interfered, 
and took them both to the Commissaire de la section. 

The Marquis was released and the Chevalier 

sent to the Luxembourg. 

His friends, hearing of his arrest, organised a plot 
for his release, established communications with 
him, and so skilfully arranged that one morning the 



3i8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Chevalier de left the Luxembourg disguised 

as a soldier, passed into the streets, and thought he 
was saved. 

But his enemy stood before him with a smile of 
triumph. 

" Again that wretched madman 1 " muttered the 
Chevalier. " Is it God's justice that puts him always 
in my way to destroy me ? " 

" I am enchanted to see you again, my dear 

Chevalier de , and I hope you are in a better 

humour to-day. Instead of the dinner you refused, 
accept the dejeuner I offer you this morning." 

" For God's sake, hold your tongue and let me 
pass," said the Chevalier in a low voice. " My life 
depends upon it. Do you hear ? do you under- 
stand ? I have just escaped from prison ; I am 
condemned to death. If you hold your tongue 
and let me pass I am saved, but if you keep me and 
call out my name you will kill me." 

" What the devil of a story are you telling me, 
Chevalier de — — ? " cried his tormentor. " Where 
did you have supper last night ? I believe you have 
drunk too much." 

" Come, Marquis, try to have a spark of reason. 
It is my life I ask of you — my life." 

" Parbleu, let us live merrily I that is my motto ; 
and let us begin by breakfasting. At any rate, I 
shall not leave you. Where you go I shall follow, 
if you run I shall run after you, calling out, ' Let us 
go to breakfast. Chevalier de ' " 

Seeing that attention was being attracted to them, 
the Chevalier in despair put his arm into that of the 
Marquis, saying — 



MADAME TALLIEN 319 

" Very well, let us go to breakfast then, but keep 
quiet, I beseech you. Not that way," as his com- 
panion turned towards the Luxembourg. 

" Yes, yes ! I know the way to the restaurant ! " 
and as he dragged him along in an iron grasp some 
guards, who had discovered the escape of the 
prisoner, recognised and seized him. 

The Chevalier was taken back to his cell, and, 
knowing that he had now only a few hours to live, he 
made his will and wrote the history of this terrible 
adventure, saying that he could not but forgive the 
Marquis as he was mad. These papers he confided 
to a fellow prisoner, and a few hours later was 
summoned to execution with a number of others. 

As the fatal car passed through the streets, for the 
third time his relentless enemy stood before him, 
and as a slight delay stopped the car close to him, 
he called out — 

"Ah ! Chevalier de , where are you going in 

that carriage ? Perhaps to see your mistress, the 

Marquise de ? " and the look of triumph and 

hatred revealed the truth to the victim of his 
vengeance. 

It was dearly bought, however. For some time, 
for prudence sake, the Marquis kept up his pretence 
of madness, but after the fall of Robespierre and the 
Terror he resumed the apparent use of his reason. 
But the next heir had taken possession of the estates 
of the family in consequence of the declared mad- 
ness of its head. The Marquis appealed to the law, 
but his own notoriety and the last will and letter of 

the Chevalier decided the case against him. 

He was shut up in the asylum of Charenton, where 



320 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

he lived for many years, resigning himself after a 
time to his fate, and dying in extreme old age. 

Not many days after the Convention had ap- 
plauded with enthusiasm an extravagant speech 
about charity, full of absurdities and bombastic 
sentimentalities, made by Ter^zia, Robespierre 
demanded her arrest of the Comite de salut public. 

It has been said that the arrest was made at the 
end of a fete she had been giving at which Robes- 
pierre himself was present, and which he had only 
just left, with professions of the sincerest friend- 
ship. 

The incident accords so well with the habitual 
treachery of Robespierre, that if not true it may be 
called ben trovato ; but in fact it is not really certain 
that it took place. 

But it is confidently affirmed that Robespierre 
pursued T^rezia, with even more than his usual 
vindictiveness. He begged the Marquis de la 
Valette, a ci-desant noble and yet a friend of his, to 
prevent the escape of this young woman whom 
they both knew, "for the safety of the Republic." 
But M. de la Valette, although he was not ashamed 
so far to degrade himself as to be the friend of 
Robespierre, shrank from being the instrument of 
this infamy ; and not only warned Terezia but 
offered her the shelter of his roof, which, for some 
reason or other, she declined. She was arrested and 
sent to La Force, one of the worst prisons of the 
Revolution, with the additional horror of being 
au secret. She had too many and too powerful 
friends to be sacrificed without difficulty and risk, 
and it was, in fact, his attack upon her that gave 




MAXIMILIEN ROBESPIERRE 



To face page 321 



MADAME TALLIEN 321 

the finishing blow to the tottering tyranny of 
Robespierre. 

Robespierre sent Coffinhal, one of his tools, to 
question her, and she was offered her liberty if she 
would denounce Tallien, which she indignantly 
refused to do. Far more than in her former ex- 
perience at Bordeaux, did she feel that she was 
already condemned. For then she had only to 
dread the general cruelty of the Revolutionists, 
whose rage was certainly excited by the escape of 
their prey, but who had, beyond doubt, no personal 
spite against her. 

But now she had an enemy, powerful, vindictive, 
remorseless, and bent upon her destruction. His ob- 
ject was that her trial should take place the next day ; 
but her friends were watching her interests. M. de 
la Valette and M. Verdun managed to prevent this, 
and next day a friend of Tallien, meeting him 
wandering in desperation about the ChampS' 
Ely sees, said to him — 

"You have nothing to fear for the citoyenne 
Cabarrus ; she will not be brought before the 
tribunal to-day either." 

To gain time in those days was often to gain 
everything. 

In the horrible dungeon in which Terezia was 
shut up, she could receive no communications from 
without ; but after a day or two she was told by the 
gaoler that she had leave to go down into the 
courtyard in the evening, after the lights were out. 
To whom she owed this consolation she was not told, 
but the first evening as she stood enjoying the fresh 
air, a stone fell at her feet, and on picking it up she 

22 



52i HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

found a paper with writing fastened to it. As she 
could not see to read it by the light of the moon, 
she had to wait till after sunrise next morning, and 
then, although the writing was disguised, she 
recognised the hand of Tallien as she read these 
words — 

" I am watching over you ; every evening at nine 
you will go down to the courtyard. I shall be 
near you." 

She tried to question the gaoler when he brought 
her breakfast of black bread and boiled beans, but 
he only put his finger on his lips. Every evening 
she went down to the courtyard and a stone with a 
note from Tallien was thrown to her. He had 
hired an attic close by, and his mother had, under 
another name, gained the gaoler and his wife. But 
at the end of a week the gaoler was denounced 
by the spies of Robespierre, and Terezia transferred 
to the Carmes. 



CHAPTER V 

The Bastille — Prisons of the Revolution — Les Carmes — Cazotte — 
The Terrorists turn upon each other — Josephine de Beauhar- 
nais — A musician in the Conciergerie — A dog in prison — 
Under the guardianship of a dog — Tallien tries to save Terezia 
— A dagger — La Force — The last hope — The Tocsin — The 
9th Thermidor. 

VOLUMES of denunciation, torrents of execra- 
tion have been and are still poured forth 
against the Bastille, the tyranny and cruelty it 
represented, the vast number and terrible fate of 
the prisoners confined there and the arbitrary, 
irresponsible power of which it was the instru- 
ment. 

Many of the stories told and assertions made 
upon the subject are absolutely false, others greatly 
exaggerated ; although nobody who has ever 
studied the history of any country would imagine 
that any prison ever existed anywhere, until within 
the last few years, without a record of crime, 
oppression, and cruelty. 

When the Bastille was destroyed, and the officers 
who were accused of nothing but defending the 
post entrusted to them were murdered, that prison 

323 



324 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

contained seven prisoners, of whom one was detained 
by the request of his family, four were forgers, one 
was an idiot, the other unknown.^ 

Three years later, under the rule of the apostles 
of liberty, fraternity, and equality, there were 
thousands of prisons of the State crammed with 
prisoners, besides the supplementary prisons hastily 
arranged in the ancient convents, palaces, and 
colleges of Paris. 

The hardships and horrors of these prisons, 
though always terrible, were much worse in some 
than in others. Far the best -were the Luxembourg, 
Portroyal, then called Port Libre, the convents of 
the Benedictins anglais, the convents des Oiseaux and 
des Anglaises, and one or two others, which, in the 
slang of the day, were called prisons muscadines.'^ 
There were congregated most of the prisoners of 
rank and refinement, although in most of the 
prisons there was a mixture of classes and opinions. 
There the food and accommodation was much 
better and the officials more civil, or rather, less 
brutal, and for a long time the prisoners were 
allowed to go into the gardens, orchards, avenues, 
and courts belonging to them, also to amuse 
themselves together until a certain hour of the 
night. 

At this time, however, everything even in these 
prisons had become much worse,3 the restrictions 
were severe, the number executed far greater, the 

' De Cassagnac, " Histoire du Directoire." 

2 A slang word of the time for aristocrat, dandy, elegant. 

3 It was six weeks before the 9th Thermidor, the day of 
deliverance, that these restrictions and hardships were increased. 



MADAME TALLIEN 325 

gaolers more brutal, and the perils and horrors of 
those awful dwellings more unheard of. 

The Carmes was one of the bad ones, as regards 
accommodation, but in it were many prisoners be- 
longing to good society, delicate, refined, bearing 
bravely the privations and dangers of their lot. It 
was supposed to be one of the aristocratic prisons, 
though less comfortable than the rest. 

If Terezia had been in immediate danger she would 
have been sent to the Conciergerie, which was 
looked upon as the gate of the guillotine ; and 
she knew that the important thing was to gain 
time. Many had thus been saved ; amongst others 
Mile, de Montansier, formerly directress of a 
theatre. She was imprisoned in the Abbaye, and 
was condemned with a number of others to be 
guillotined on the following day. 

But she was so ill that she could not stand, and 
as she lay delirious upon her pallet in a high fever, 
one of her fellow prisoners called to M. Cazotte, 
who was also imprisoned there, and was famous for 
having predicted many things which had always 
come true, especially for his prophecy at the 
notorious supper of the Prince de Beauvan, at 
which he had foretold the horrors of the Revolution 
and the fate of the different guests, now being, or 
having been, terribly fulfilled.^ 

"Well, Cazotte," said the other, "here, if ever, is a 
case for you to call your spirit up and ask him if 

' The story of this supper is given in " A Leader of Society 
at Napoleon's Court" (Bearne), and in the Memoirs of La 
Harpe, the Comtesse d'Adhemar, and others who were present 
at it. 



326 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

that poor dying creature will have strength to mount 
the horrible machine to-morrow." 

He spoke half jokingly, but Cazotte saw no joke 
at all, but went into a corner without speaking, 
turned his face to the wall, and remained there in 
silence for a quarter of an hour, after which he 
came back with a joyful look. 

" La brave fille will not be guillotined at all," he 
said, "for I have just seen her die in her bed at an 
advanced age." 

All laughed at the vision, but the next day she 
was so ill that her execution was put off, she con- 
tinued to be so ill that she could not be moved and 
was forgotten till the 9th Thermidor came and she 
was saved. She died, as Cazotte had predicted, in 
her own bed at a great age. 

Cazotte himself, after being saved by his daughter 
from the massacre, was re-arrested as he always 
foretold. His friends asked in vain why he did not 
hide, escape, save himself ; he only replied — 

" What is the use, if my hour has come ? " 

He was executed as he foretold. 

Terezia was much better off at the Carmes, for 
she was no longer ati secret, but mixed in the day 
with the rest of the prisoners and shared a cell at 
night with the Duchesse d'Aiguillon and Josephine 
Vicomtesse de Beauharnais, whose husband, a 
revolutionary general and a thoroughly contemp- 
tible character, had lately been guillotined by his 
republican friends. 

For the only consolation was that now the 
monsters were turning on each other ; there were, 
in fact, more republicans than royalists in the 



MADAME TALLIEN 327 

prisons. Every now and then some blood-stained 
miscreant was brought in amongst those whose 
homes he had wrecked, whose dear ones he had 
murdered, and whose fate he was now to share ; 
while all shrunk in horror from him, or mocked 
and triumphed as he passed. When Chaumette, the 
high priest of the Revolution, one of the most 
blasphemous and blood-stained wretches of all, was 
brought to the Luxembourg, the prisoners would 
look through the little guichet where he was shut up, 
asking each other, " Have you seen the wolf ? " 

When Manuel, one of the authors of the Sep- 
tember massacres, was taken to the Conciergerie 
and stood before the tribunal, a group of prisoners 
standing by, regardless of the gendarmes, pushed 
him against a pillar, still stained with the blood shed 
on that fearful day, with cries of " See the blood 
you shed," ^ and through applause and " bravos " 
he passed to his doom. 

In the cell of Terezia and her companions had 
been massacred a number of priests on that 
occasion, and still upon its wall were the silhouettes 
marked in blood, where two of the murderers had 
rested their swords. 

And yet amidst all the horrors and miseries even 
of the six last and most awful weeks of the Terror, 
in daily peril of death and amongst the most fright- 
ful hardships, laughter and jokes were heard in the 
prisons, friendships and love affairs were formed ; 
every one was the friend of every one. 

Those who were going to their death, dined 

' " Prisons de Paris " (Dauban). 



328 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

cheerfully for the last time with their companions, 
and bade them a brave and cheerful farewell. 

A young musician, waiting at the Conciergerie for 
the gendarmes to take him to the tribunal which 
was his death sentence, remembering that a friend 
wanted a certain air, went back to his room, copied 
it, and took it to his friend, saying — 

" Mon cher, here is what you wanted ; the music is 
all right, I have just tried it on my flute. I am 
sorry not to be able to get you some more ; I shall 
not be alive to-morrow." ^ 

There were a thousand prisoners in the Luxem- 
bourg alone, and strange romances, thrilling escapes, 
fearful tragedies, and touching stories could indeed 
be told of what passed within the walls of those 
gloomy prisons. 

Mme. de la Chabaussiere was imprisoned at Port 
Libre, and her dog stayed with her all the time, her 
only comfort. He was well-known and a favourite 
in the prison, he knew all the gaolers and officials, 
and which of them were kind to his mistress. Of 
these he was very fond ; but those who were not 
good to her he flew at, biting their legs and fighting 
with their dogs. However, all the officials liked 
him and let him stay during the whole time she 
was imprisoned. When the gaoler came to open 
the door of her cell he jumped up and licked his 
hands ; when she walked, as at Port Libre they could, 
in the cloisters and gardens, he went with her; 
when she came back he rushed in and hid himself 
in her cell. 

Port Libre was a large building — several build- 

^ " Memoires sur les Prisons." 



MADAME TALLIEN 329 

ings, in fact — with great corridors warmed by stoves ; 
many of the rooms had fireplaces and there was a 
great salon where the richer prisoners dined. In 
the evening there were concerts, games, lectures, 
&c., or people read, wrote, and worked. Collections 
were made to pay for wood, lights, stores, extra 
furniture, water — the richer paid for the poorer. 
Every one brought their own lights and sat round a 
great table ; a few sans-culottes were there, but the 
society for the most part was extremely good. 
Little suppers were given by different prisoners to 
their friend, better food could be got by paying, also 
books, letters, parcels, and newspapers. At 9 p.m. 
was the appel, but they might afterward return to 
the salon, meet in each other's rooms, or even get 
leave from the concierge to visit their friends in the 
other buildings. Outside were three walks : the 
garden, the cloisters, and the cour de I'accacia, with 
palisades and a seat of grass under a great accacia. 
Often they sat out till eleven at night, and those 
whose rooms were close by sometimes spent the 
whole night out of doors. 

This was one of the best prisons, but during the 
six weeks before Thermidor even this was much 
changed for the worse, brutal ruffians taking the 
place of milder gaolers, and food unfit to eat being 
supplied. 

Many heroic people, women especially, managed 
to get stolen interviews with those belonging to them 
shut up in the different prisons. Mme. de Beuguot 
used to visit her husband disguised as a washer- 
woman, and through her devotion, courage, and 
good management he was ultimately saved. Some 



330 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

bribed or persuaded the more humane gaolers, and 
one man was visited through all his imprisonment 
by his two little children who came with no other 
guardian than their large dog. The faithful creature 
brought them safe there and back every day, 
watching carefully that they were not run over. 

The prison of the Carmes was a very different 
abode to Port Libre, and it was just at its worst 
time, but still Terezia used afterwards to declare 
that she, after a time, got accustomed to the horrors 
of the prison. The constant presence of death 
made them more and more callous, and they would 
play games together like children, even enacting the 
scenes of execution which they had every prospect 
of going through in reality. Their room, or cell, 
looked out into the garden, through a grating, 
into which, however, they could not go ; a single 
mattress in a corner served for their bed. 

The Duchesse d'Aiguillon had obtained leave to 
have a thimble, needles, and scissors, with which 
she worked. Josephine read and worked ; Terezia 
told stories and sang. 

The hand of Charlotte Corday had sent Marat to 
his own place ; Danton and Camille Desmoulins, 
beginning to have some slight glimmerings of 
mercy and humanity, had been denounced and 
executed ; Robespierre was still triumphant, with 
his friends and satellites, Couthon, St.-Just and 
David. With them and Foulquier-Tinville, Paris 
was like hell upon earth. Long lists of victims, 
numbers of whom were women, went every 
day to the guillotine ; the populace were getting 
weary of blood and slaughter. Again Tallien 




GEORGES DANTON 



To face page 330 



MADAME TALLIEN 331 

made an attempt to get the release of Terezia, 
even suggesting that it was time to stop the murder 
of women. Even David agreed; but Robespierre 
was inexorable. 

On the morning of the 4th Thermidor a dagger 
had been mysteriously sent to Tallien, without a 
word of explanation. No one knew who had 
brought it ; there it was upon his table. But he 
knew the dagger, and what it meant. It was a 
Spanish poignard which belonged to Terezia. It 
was then that he went and made his last and useless 
appeal to Robespierre. Terezia had again been 
removed to La Force, and on the 7th Thermidor 
he received a letter from her. 

" La citoyenne Fontenay to the citoyen Tallien, 
rue de la Perle, 17. 

"The administrateiir de police has just left; he 
has been to tell me that to-morrow I go to the 
tribunal, which means to the scaffold. It is indeed 
unlike the dream I had last night, that Robespierre 
was dead and the prisons open ; but thanks to your 
incredible cowardice, there will soon be nobody left 
in France capable of realising it." 

He answered immediately — 

"Have as much prudence as I will have courage, 
but calm your head." 

Then he went to find Barras and Freron. 

But Terezia had nearly lost all hope. She had 
waited and waited, always expecting help — for 
Tallien was powerful among the leaders of the 
government. But when she was taken from the 
Carmes back to La Force, she knew that her time 
had come, and now the gaoler had told her that it 



332 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

was not worth while to make her bed, as it was to 
be given to another. 

With anguish she saw one cartload of prisoners 
leave, and she trembled every moment lest she 
should hear the sound of the wheels of a second in 
the courtyard of the prison. 

But the next day passed and she was not called 
for. All day she waited in a feverish, terrible sus- 
pense that can well be imagined ; night came and 
she was still spared. Morning dawned, the morning 
of the 9th Thermidor. The weather was frightfully 
oppressive, and in all the prisons in Paris they were 
stifling from the heat, for the late cruel restrictions 
had put an end, even in the more indulgent prisons, 
to the possibility of walks in garden or cloister 
and the chance of fresh air. But as the long, weary 
day wore on, there seemed to be some change 
approaching ; there was an uneasy feeling about, 
for there had lately been rumours of another 
massacre in the prisons, and the prisoners, this 
time resolving to sell their lives dearly, had been 
agreeing upon and arranging what little defence 
they could make. Some planned a barricade made 
of their beds, others examined the furniture with a 
view to breaking it up into clubs, a few brought 
carefully out knives they had managed to conceal 
in holes and corners from the prison officials, some 
filled their pockets with cinders and ashes to fling in 
the faces of their assailants, and so escape in the 
confusion, while others, republicans and atheists, 
felt for the cahanis, a poison they carried about 
them, and assured themselves that it was all safe 
and ready for use. 



MADAME TALLIEN 333 

They waited and listened. There was certainly 
more noise in the streets, something was evidently 
going on ; but there was no attack upon any of the 
prisons ; on the contrary, it was the gaolers who 
were undoubtedly alarmed. Their whole tone and 
manner changed from brutal insolence to civility 
and indulgence. When evening approached they 
were running about from one room to another with 
looks of dismay, while the terror of the prison spies 
was uncontrolled. 

In the Luxembourg, between six and seven in the 
evening, a prisoner whose room was at the top of 
the palace came down and said that he heard the 
tocsin. In breathless silence all listened, and 
recognised that fearful sound. Drums were beat- 
ing, the noise and tumult grew louder and 
nearer, but whether it meant life or death to 
them they could not tell ; only the discouraged 
and anxious demeanour of the officials gave 
them hope. In spite of the opposition of the 
gaolers several of them rushed up the stairs and 
got out on the roof to see what was going on. 
In the rue Tournon they saw an immense crowd with 
a carriage in the midst, which by the clamour 
around it they knew must contain some important 
person. It stopped before the Luxembourg, the 
name of Robespierre was spoken ; it was sent on 
with him to the Maison Commune. 

The clamour died away ; all night reassuring 
proclamations were heard about the streets. 

The next morning all was changed. The cring- 
ing, officious, timid civility of their tyrants left but 
little doubt in their minds. They clasped each other's 



334 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

hands, even then not daring to speak openly or show 
their joy, until the news, first a whisper, then a 
certainty, assured them that Robespierre was dead. 

Then Terezia knew that she was safe, and that 
Tallien, for her sake, had overthrown the monster 
and broken the neck of the Terror. Soon he 
appeared in triumph to throw open the gates of 
La Force, and the following day Terezia, accom- 
panied by Freron and Melun de Thionville, went 
herself to the club of the Jacobins and closed it 
without any one venturing to take the keys from 
her. . 

When Pitt heard of it he remarked, " That woman 
is capable of closing the gates of hell." 



CHAPTER VI 

" Robespierre is dead !" — Notre Dame de Thermidor — End of the 
Terror— The prisons open — Dedine of Tallien's power — Barras 
— Napoleon— " Notre Dame de Septembre !" — M. Ouvrard — 
Separates from Talhen — He goes to Egypt — Consul in Spain — 
Dies in Paris — Terezia stays in Paris — Ingratitude of some she 
had saved — Marries the Prince de Chimay — Conclusion. 

ROBESPIERRE was dead, and Tallien, for the 
time, reigned in his stead ; and with him and 
over him, Terezia, or, as she may be called, Mme. 
Tallien, for although Tallien before spoke of her as 
his wife, it was only after the 9th Thermidor that 
some sort of marriage ceremony was performed. 
But the name she now received, amongst the 
acclamation of the populace, was " Notre Dame 
de Thermidor." For it was she who had brought 
about the deliverance of that day ; for her and by 
her the Terror had been broken up ; and although 
the Thermidoriens, led by Tallien, Barras and Freron, 
had re-established or continued the Comite de Salut 
Public, the greater number of the blood-stained 
tyrants who ruled the Revolution still remained, 
and many horrors and tyrannies for some time 
longer went on ; still there was at once an enormous 
difference. The revolutionary gang had, of course, 

335 



336 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

not altered its nature, those of whom it was com- 
posed were the same, cruel, remorseless, and 
steeped in crimes ; but however much they wished 
it they could not continue to carry on the terrorism 
against which the anger of the populace was now 
aroused. 

The people had had enough ; they were tired of 
blood and murder. Even before Thermidor they 
had begun to murmur as the cars of victims passed 
through the streets ; a reaction had begun. 

The prisons were thrown open, the Directoire was 
far milder than the Convention, pardons were 
obtained in numbers, especially by Terezia, who, 
when she could not succeed in saving persons in 
danger in any other way, had often risked her own 
safety to help and conceal them. 

Paris seemed to be awaking into life again ; the 
streets were more animated, the people to be seen 
in them were more numerous and did not all look 
either brutal or terror-stricken. Art, literature, and 
social gaiety began to revive. 

One of the odious, inevitable republican fites 
was, of course, given to celebrate the events of 
Thermidor. Mme. Tallien opened a salon, where, 
as in the others then existing, the strange, uncouth 
figures of the sans-culottes mingled with others 
whose appearance and manners showed that they 
were renegades and traitors to their own order and 
blood. 

Conspicuous amongst these was Barras, who, 
though his hands were deeply dyed in the blood of 
the Terror, belonged to one of the noblest families 
in Provence. 



MADAME TALLIEN 337 

" Noble coinme tin Barras," was, in fact, a common 
saying of the country. 

His was the leading salon of Paris at that time, 
and Mme. Tallien was the presiding genius there. 
Music, dancing, and gambling were again the rage, 
the women called themselves by mythological 
names and wore costumes so scanty and transparent 
that they were scarcely any use either for warmth 
or decency ; marriages, celebrated by a civic func- 
tionary, were not considered binding, and were 
frequently and quickly followed by divorce. Society, 
if such it could be called, was a wild revel of -dis- 
order, licence, debauchery, and corruption ; while 
over all hung, like a cloud, the gloomy figures of 
Billaud-Varennes, Collot d'Herbois, Barere, and 
their Jacobin followers, ready at any moment to 
bring back the Terror. 

So it was on a volcano that they feasted and sang 
and danced and made love, and T^rezia was the 
life and soul of the pandemonium which had taken 
the place of the graceful, polished, cultivated society 
of the ancien regime. 

Her first care had been to release from the 
Carmes her fellow-prisoners, Josephine de 
Beauharnais and Mme. d'Aiguillon, who now 
formed an intimate part of her society and that of 
Barras. To them also came Mme. de Stael, wife 
of the Swedish Ambassador, the beautiful Mme. 
Regnault-de-Saint-Jean-d'Angely, Mme. Cambys, 
and many others thankful to escape from the 
shadows of prison and death to the light of liberty 
and pleasure. The restraints of religion and 
morality were, of course, non-existent ; liaisons and 

23 



338 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

licence were the order of the day, and Terezia was 
not Hkely to be an exception to the general custom. 
She had, ^besides her daughter by Tallien, other 
children, who, as no other name belonged to them, 
were called Cabarrus. And her being or calling 
herself Tallien's wife was no reason why she should 
renounce her natural right to love any one else 
where, when, and as often as she pleased. 

And Barras pleased her. His distinguished 
appearance and manners contrasted with those of 
her present surroundings, and recalled the days 
when she lived amongst people who were polite 
and well-bred, knew how to talk and eat and enter a 
drawing-room, and behave when they were in it ; 
and who wore proper clothes and did not call each 
other " citoyen," or any other ridiculous names, and 
conversation was delightful, and scenes and 
memories of blood and horror unknown. It may 
well have been at this time that she began to yearn 
after that former existence she had been so rashly 
eager to throw away. 

Her love for Tallien was beginning to wane. It 
had never been more than a mad passion, aroused 
by excitement, romance, and the strange circum- 
stances which threw them into each other's way ; 
and kept alive by vanity, interest, gratitude, and 
perhaps above all by success. She wanted Tallien 
to be a great power, a great man ; and she was 
beginning to see that he was nothing of the sort. 
If, when Robespierre fell, instead of helping to set 
up a government composed of other men, he had 
seized the reins himself, she would have supported 
him heart and soul, shared his power, ambition, 



MADAME T ALU EN 339 

and danger, and probably her admiration and pride 
might have preserved her love for him. But Tallien 
had not the power to play such a part ; he had 
neither brains nor character to sway the minds of 
men and hold their wills in bondage to his own. 
And now he was in a position which in any line of 
life surely bars the way to success : he was neither 
one thing or the other. 

Between him and the royalists were the Sep- 
tember massacres, rivers of blood, crimes and 
blasphemies without end. 

Between him and the Jacobins, the death of 
Robespierre and the destruction of the Montagne. 

And he saw that his influence was declining and 
with it the love of the woman to whom he was still 
devoted. 

Of course there were disputes and jealousies as 
time went on. It is of Tallien that is told the story 
of his complaint to his wife — 

" Tu ne me tutoies plus ! " and of her answer — 

" Eh bien ! va-t-en." 

Their first house in Paris was a sort of imitation 
cottage, after the execrable taste of the day, in the 
Champs-Elysees, from which they moved into a hotel 
in the rue dc la Vicioire, which was for some time 
the resort of all the chiefs of their political party, 
and the scene of constant contention between the 
Thermidoriens and the remnants of the Montagne. 
The discussions were generally political, and often 
violent ; they would have been abhorrent to the 
well-bred society of former days. 

Barras was the leading spirit in this society, and 
for some time he was at T^r^zia's feet. But if 



340 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Tallien was not a great man, neither was Barras ; 
amongst all the unscrupulous ruffians of the 
revolutionary party there did not appear to be one 
superior enough to his fellows to command or lead 
them. 

And yet there was one : " a young, pale, sickly- 
looking Italian," who lived in a third-rate inn, wore 
a shabby uniform, and frequented the parties of 
Barras and the rest. He was not a conspicuous 
figure nor a particularly honoured guest ; his 
military career had been apparently ruined by the 
spite of his enemies ; he seemed to have no money, 
no connections, and no prospects. But in a few 
years all of them — all France and nearly all Europe 
— were at his feet, for it was Napoleon Buonaparte. 

His career, however, was even now beginning ; 
and not long after T^rezia, in the height of her 
beauty and power with Paris at her feet, rejected 
his love-making but accepted his friendship, he 
was sent to Italy and began the series of triumphs 
which were to raise him to the throne of France. 

As time went on Terezia found that her influence 
as well as that of Tallien was rapidly declining. 
Her salon was not at all likely to last long. Those of 
the court and of society before the Revolution had 
been of an entirely different order ; held by women 
who, besides their beauty or other attractions, were 
in an assured position, surrounded by well-known 
connections and friends, forming an intimate 
society sure to be met at their houses, and always 
ready to carry on conversation, avoid all topics 
likely to give offence, and make themselves gene- 
rally agreeable. Nobody was admitted there who 
r-" 



> 




NAPOLEON 



To /ace page S40 



MADAME TALLIEN 341 

was not accustomed to the usages of the world or 
who would interfere with the harmony and general 
tone of the house. People went there, not to 
engage in political discussions or to make love to 
their hostess, but to spend a pleasant evening and 
meet the friends they knew and liked. These salons 
continued to be frequented by their usual guests 
year after year without any more change than the 
lapse of time inevitably brings. 

Laure Permon, Duchesse d'Abrantes, than whom 
no one was a better judge of these matters, 
observes — 

" To * receive ' is to have an open house, where 
one can go every evening with the certainty of 
finding it lighted up and inhabited, the host ready 
to receive one with pleasure and courtesy. For 
that, it is not an absolute necessity to have a 
superior intellect, to descend from Charlemagne, or 
to possess two hundred thousand livres de rentes ; 
but it is absolutely necessary to have knowledge of 
the world and cultivation, qualities which every- 
body does not possess." 

The sort of people who frequented the salon of 
Mme. Tallien had no such ideas. They were a 
miscellaneous horde collected from the most oppo- 
site sources, many of whom were strangers to each 
other or disliked and feared each other, and who 
went there for different reasons. When Tallien 
became less powerful her salon became less and less 
full ; when men ceased to be in love with her they 
left off going there. 

The infatuation of Barras for her began also to 
cool. He left off going to her as at one time to 



342 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

consult her about everything. If he wished to see 
her, or she to see him, she must go to him at the 
Luxembourg. 

And step by step she was drawing away from the 
Revolution. She had had enough of it, and she 
began to feel that disgust and horror were taking 
the place of the frantic admiration she had enter- 
tained for it in former years. And the finishing 
stroke was put by hearing herself called, as she 
walked with Tallien in Cours la Reine one evening, 
" Noire Dame de Septembre." 

Tallien heard it too, and it was like a blow to 
him. Do and say what he might, he could never 
shake off the stain of the September massacres, and 
time only increased the horror with which they 
were regarded. 

The name, applied to Terezia, was a cruel injus- 
tice, and, with the ingratitude so often to be met 
with, now that she was less powerful and people 
were not in need of her protection, they forgot or 
neglected or slandered her, and that accursed name 
was frequently to be heard. 

In her altered state of mind Tallien was associated 
with all the horrors she longed to forget, and she 
began to wish to free herself from a marriage which 
in her eyes was only a contract entered into for 
mutual convenience, to be ended when no longer 
desirable. 

Tallien had saved her life twice, and she had 
given him her youth and beauty and fortune ; she 
probably thought they were quits. Her connection 
with him had lasted five years, and now her passion 
both for him and for the Revolution had burnt 



MADAME TALLIEN 343 

itself out, she was in all the splendour of her beauty 
and not more than five-and-twenty years old. Most 
of her life lay before her. 

If she no longer cared for Barras nor he for her, 
there were plenty of others ready to worship her. 
M. Ouvrard, a millionaire who was under an obliga- 
tion to her, heard her complain that she had no 
garden worth calling one. Some days later he 
called for her in his carriage, and took her to the 
door of a luxurious hotel in the rue de Babylone. 
Giving her a gold key, he bade her open the door, 
and when she had given vent to her raptures over 
the sumptuous rooms and shady garden, he told 
her that her servants had already arrived ; she was 
at home — all was hers. 

Tallien had no wish to separate from Terezia. 
He cared more for her than she for him, but he 
saw that her love was gone ; he had failed with her 
as with everything else. He submitted, and begged 
to be allowed to accompany Napoleon to Egypt, 
why, no one could understand, unless he feared he 
might share the fate of Billaud-Varennes, Collot 
d'Herbois, Barere, and other of his regicide friends, 
meditating at Cayenne upon the result of the 
Revolution.! 

Terezia remained at Paris, which was soon trans- 
formed by the wonderful genius who rose to 
supreme power upon the ruins of the chimeras 
with which she and her friends had deluded them- 
selves. The men of the Revolution, regicides and 
murderers, fled from the country. Napoleon was 
an enemy of a different kind from Louis XVI., and 
' "Notre Dame de Thermidor," p. 456 (Arsene Houssaye). 



344 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

he was now the idol of the people. His strong 
hand held the reins of government, his mighty 
genius dominated the nation and led their armies 
to victory ; the fierce, unruly populace quailed 
before him. He scorned the mob and hated the 
Revolution. 

" Saturday — of Messidor ! " he exclaimed, when 
ordering the Moniteur to be dated on a certain day. 
" We shall be laughed at ! But I will do away with 
the Messidor ! I will efface all the inventions of 
the Jacobins 1 " ^ 

Barras fled to Brussels ; Tallien, his part played 
out and his power and position gone, returned to 
France, the last link broken between him and 
Terezia. He did not wish for a divorce, but he 
was obliged to consent to one. And he had himself 
been one of its most fervent advocates. 

Napoleon gave him a consulship at Alicante, 
where he spent some years. Before he went, 
Ouvrard offered him the cottage in the Champs- 
Elysees and a pension of twelve thousand francs, 
which he refused with indignation. He was again 
a journalist, and would live by his pen. 

He returned to Paris when he left Spain, and 
lived there, poor, sickly, and forgotten by all but 
Terezia, then Princess de Chimay. She was nearly 
his only friend. She visited him often, and though 
he would never take money from her, she persuaded 
him to accept a refuge in the house in the Champs- 
Elysees called the Chaumiere, their first dwelling in 
Paris. 

For some years Terezia continued to live at Paris, 

' " Memoires de Napoleon " (Bdurrienne). 



MADAME T ALLIEN 34S 

where she had witnessed so many transformations 
and passed through the extremes of prosperity and 
adversity. 

Many friends were about her ; her beauty and 
fascination were as remarkable as ever. From 
numbers of people she met with the affection and 
gratitude which, however they might deplore and 
disapprove of the laxity of her morals, no one who 
was not altogether contemptible would fail to 
render to a woman who had saved their life or the 
lives of those they loved. 

Others there were who showed the basest ingrati- 
tude. The Marquise de had been saved by 

Mme. Tallien, and hidden for three weeks in her 
boudoir. Not even her maid knew of her presence 
there. Terezia herself not only brought her food 
and waited upon her, but obtained her pardon and 
got part of her fortune restored to her. For some 
time she appeared very grateful, and as long as 
Tallien was powerful she came constantly to see 
Terezia, often asking for fresh favours. 

When Tallien had fallen and Napoleon was 
supreme she ceased to go near her. 

A man of her acquaintance, disgusted by her 
conduct, remarked one day — 

" Mme. Tallien is indignant at your ingratitude ; 
she saved your life, and I advise you to go and see 
her." 

To which she replied, " Comment done ! I have a 
horror of ingratitude. Of course I intend to go and 
see her. I owe her a great deal, and I will prove 
it by doing so. But you understand that I am 
obliged to consider appearances for the sake of my 



346 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

family, and her reputation forces me to show a 
reserve which I regret. If you will ask her when I 
shall find her alone I shall go and see her at once." 

"Tell her," said Mme. Tallien, "that I am desolee 
not to be able to receive her, but I am never alone, 
because I am always surrounded by those to whom 
I have had the happiness to be of use." 
' Mme. de Boufflers, Mme. de Sabran, and their 
families, on, the other hand, were always assiduous 
in their attentions to her, and would refuse other 
invitations to go to her. 

Josephine, now the wife of Napoleon, and head 
of society in Paris, had not forgotten her, and was 
anxious to receive her at court, but this Napoleon 
would not allow, greatly to the disappointment and 
sorrow of them both. 

Josephine cried and entreated in vain, pointing 
out the ingratitude he was forcing her to display ; 
but though he always retained his private friend- 
ship for Terezia, he told Josephine that only respect- 
able women could be received by the wife of the 
First Consul. 

In 1805 she again married, and this time her hus- 
band was in every respect the incarnation of all 
that she had hitherto opposed and objected to. 

A royalist, an emigre, a Prince ; but the only man 
she never ceased to love, and of whom she said, 
"He was her true husband." 

Joseph, Comte de Caraman, who soon after their 
marriage became Prince de Chimay, was the third 
son of the Due de Caraman, Governor of Provence. 
He emigrated with the Princes, and, being an excel- 
lent musician, gained his living by his violin. He 



MADAME TALLIEN 347 

established himself at Hamburg, and there gave 
lessons. 

After the Revolution he returned with the other 
emigres, and soon after received the inheritance of 
his uncle, the fourteenth Prince de Chimay, and of 
the Holy Roman Empire and Grandee of Spain. 

They went to live at the ancient castle of Chimay,^ 
where they led an intellectual and splendid life, 
surrounded by the great artists, musicians, and 
literary men of the day, and by many devoted 
friends. They spent their winters in Brussels, but 
a bitter drop in Terezia's cup of happiness was the 
absolute refusal of the King and Queen to receive 
her at court. The Prince, who was the King's 
Chamberlain, had to go without her. 

He always adored her, saying she was the good 
genius of his house. They passed their lives 
happily together until her death, which took place 
at Chimay in January, 1835, surrounded by her 
children, whom she adored. They had several 
besides her former ones, whom she neither con- 
cealed nor separated from. 

Tallien's daughter, one of whose names was 
" Thermidor," married a Narbonne-Pelet. Another 
daughter, the Marquise de H allay, inherited her 
beauty, and was an extraordinary likeness of her- 
self. One of her sons. Dr. Edouard Cabarrus, was 
with her amongst the rest when she died, and the 
last words she spoke to her children were in the 
soft caressing Spanish of her early youth. 

' Chimay is in Belgium. 



IV 
MADAME DE GENLIS 



CHAPTER I 

Birth of Felicite Ducrest — Chateau de Saint-Aubin — Made 
chanoinesse — Story of her uncle and her mother — Her child- 
hood — Comes to Paris — Goes into society — Evil reputation of 
the liotel Tencin. 

THE last of the four French heroines whose 
histories are here to be related, differed in 
her early surroundings and circumstances from the 
three preceding ones. She was neither the daughter 
of a powerful noble like the Marquise de Montagu, 
nor did she belong to the finance or the bourgeoisie 
like Mme. Le Brun and Mme. Tallien. Her father 
was noble but poor, her childhood was spent, not in 
a great capital but in the country, and as she was 
born nearly ten years before the first and six-and- 
twenty years before the last of the other three, she 
saw much more than they did of the old France 
before it was swept away by the Revolution. 

Felicite Stephanie Ducrest de Saint-Aubin was 
born January 25, 1746, at Champc^ry, a small estate 
in Burgundy which belonged to her father, but 
which two years afterwards he sold, and bought 
the estate and marqiiisat ^ of Saint-Aubin on the 
Loire. 

' An estate which carried a title with all the seigneurianx rights, 

351 



352 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

The chateau, built close to the river, was large, 
picturesque, and dilapidated, with immense court- 
yards and crumbling towers ; on the opposite bank 
was the Abbaye de Sept-Fonts, where Felicite and 
her brother were often taken for a treat, crossing 
the Loire in a boat and dining in the guest-room of 
the abbey. 

These children, of whom she was the elder by a 
year, were the only ones who survived of the four 
born to their parents, and were devotedly fond of 
each other ; the remembrance of their happy child- 
hood together in the rambling old chateau and the 
great garden with its terrace over the Loire always 
remained vividly impressed upon the mind of 
Felicite. 

They were in the habit of spending part of every 
summer at Etioles, with M. le Normand, fermier 
general des posies, husband of Mme. de Pompadour, 
then the mistress of Louis XV. After one of these 
visits, when Felicity was about six years old, it 
having been decided to obtain for her and for one 
of her little cousins admission into the order of 
chanoinesses of the Noble Chapter of Alix ; the 
two children with their mothers travelled in an 
immense travelling-carriage called a berline, to 
Lyon, where they were detained for a fortnight, 
during which the Comtes de Lyon examined the 
genealogical proofs of their noble descent. Find- 
ing them correct and sufficient for their admission 
into the order, they proceeded to Alix, at some 
distance from Lyon ; where, with the huge abbey 
and church in the centre were, grouped, in the 
form of a semi-circle, the tiny houses, each with its 




LA MARQUISE DE POMPADOUR 



To face page 3S3 



MADAME DE GENUS 353 

little garden, which were the dwellings of the 
chanoinesses. 

On the day of the ceremony the children, dressed 
in white, were brought into the church, where the 
grand prior, after making them say the creed and 
answer certain questions, cut off a lock of their hair, 
tied a piece of black and white material on their 
heads, put a black silk girdle round their waists, 
and hung round their necks the red cordon and 
enamelled cross of the order. After a short ex- 
hortation, followed by high mass, the children were 
embraced by the chanoinesses, and the day ended 
with suitable festivities. 

The chanoinesses all bore the title of Coun- 
tess ; that chosen for Felicite was Comtesse de 
Lancy, her father being Seigneur of Bourbon- 
Lancy. 

The chanoinesses were free to take vows or not, 
either at the prescribed age or later. If they did 
not, they had only the honour of the title of 
Countess and the decorations of the order. If they 
did, they got one of the dwellings and a good 
pension, but they could not marry, and must spend 
two out of every three years there ; with the other 
year they could do as they liked. They might also 
adopt as a niece a young chanoinesse on condition 
she always stayed with them and took the vows 
when she was the proper age. Her adopted aunt 
might leave her all her jewels, furniture, &c., as well 
as her little house and pension. One of them 
wished to adopt Felicite, but her mother would not 
consent. They stayed there six weeks and then 
went home, Felicite in despair at leaving the nuns, 

24 



3S4 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

who petted and loaded her with bonbons, but much 
consoled by being called " Madame." 

They then returned to Lyon, where they parted 
company ; Felicite's aunt and cousin returning to 
Paris, while she and her mother went back to 
Burgundy. 

After a time a governess was engaged for her, a 
certain Mile, de Mars, a young girl of sixteen, 
whose chief instruction was in music, in which she 
excelled, but beyond the catechism and a few 
elementary subjects, knew little or nothing. She 
was a gentle, devout, sweet-tempered girl, and 
Felicite soon became passionately attached to her, 
and as her mother, occupied with her own pursuits 
and paying and receiving visits, troubled herself 
very little about the studies of her daughter, the 
child was left almost entirely to Mile. Mars and the 
maids, who, however, were trustworthy women and 
did her no harm, beyond filling her head with 
stories of ghosts with which the old chateau might 
well have been supposed to be haunted. M. de 
Saint-Aubin kept a pack of hounds, hunted or 
fished all day, and played the violin in the evening. 
He had been in the army, but had resigned his 
commission early in consequence of some foolish 
scrape. 

Felicite's mother was the daughter of a most 
odious woman. 

She had first married M. de Mezieres, a man of 
talent and learning, who possessed an estate in 
Burgundy, and was early left a widow. 

After a very few months she married the Marquis 
de la Haie, who had been the page and then the 



MADAME DE GENUS 355 

lover of the infamous Duchesse de Berri, eldest 
daughter of the Regent d'Orleans. 

The Marquis was celebrated for his good looks, 
and was very rich ; but her marriage with him was 
disastrous for the son and daughter of her first 
husband, to whom she took a violent and unnatural 
dislike. She sent her son to America to get rid of 
him when he was thirteen, and when he arrived 
there he escaped to Canada, took refuge with the 
Indians, and made them understand that he had 
been abandoned by his mother and wanted to live 
with them, to which they consented on condition 
of his being tattooed all over. 

The courage, strength, and vigour of the boy 
delighted the Indians, whose language he soon 
learned and in whose sports and warlike feats he 
excelled. But, unlike most Europeans who have 
identified themselves with savages, he did not forget 
his own language or the education he had received. 
Every day he traced upon pieces of bark verses or 
prose in French and Latin, or geometrical problems ; 
and so great was the consideration he obtained 
among the Indians that when he was twenty he 
was made chief of the tribe, then at war with the 
Spaniards. Much astonished at the way in which 
the savages were commanded by their young leader, 
the Spaniards were still more surprised when, on 
discussing terms of peace, he conversed with them 
entirely in Latin. Struck with admiration after 
hearing his history, they invited him to enter the 
Spanish service, which, when he had arranged a 
satisfactory treaty for his Indian friends, he did ; 
made a rich marriage, and being one of those men 



356 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

who are born to lead, rose as rapidly to power 
among the Spaniards as among the Indians, and at 
the end of ten or twelve years was governor of 
Louisiana. There he lived in prosperity and 
happiness on his estates in a splendid house in 
which he formed a magnificent library ; and did 
not visit France until the death of his cruel mother, 
after which he spent some time in Paris to the great 
satisfaction of his sister and niece. The latter, who 
was then at the Palais Royal, describes him as a 
grave, rather reserved man, of vast information and 
capacity. His conversation was intensely interest- 
ing owing to the extent of his reading in French, 
Spanish, and Latin, and the extraordinary experi- 
ences of his life. He used to dine with her nearly 
every day, and through his silk stockings she could 
see the tattooed serpents of his Indian tribe. He 
was an excellent man, for whom she had the 
greatest respect and affection. 

Mme. de la Haie treated her daughter as badly 
as her son. She placed her at six years old in a 
convent, seldom went to see her, when she did 
showed her no sign of affection, and at fourteen 
insisted upon her taking the veil. But the irre- 
vocable vows were not to be pronounced for 
another year, by which time the young girl declared 
that they might carry her to the church but that 
before the altar she would say no instead of yes. 
The Abbess declared that so great a scandal could 
not be permitted, the enraged mother had to give 
way, and the young girl joyfully resumed the secular 
clothes now much too small for her. 

But she was left to live in the convent without 



MADAME DE GEN LIS' 357 

ever leaving it, and her lot would have been de- 
plorable indeed but for the affection and sympathy 
she met with from every one, above all, from the 
good abbess, Mme. de Rossgnol, who had taken 
care of her education, and with whom she dined 
and spent the whole day. 

Thus time passed on till she was six-and-twenty, 
when she formed an intimate friendship with the 
Marquise de Fontenille, a widow who had come to 
live in the convent. M. Ducrest, then de Champcery, 
a good-looking man of thirty-seven, who had lately 
left the army, was a relation of Mme. de Fontenille, 
and often came to the farloir to see her. He also 
saw Mile, de M^zi^res, with whom he fell in love, 
and whom he proposed to marry. He had a few 
hundreds a year, the small castle of Champcery, and 
a little property besides ; while Mile, de M^zieres 
had less than two thousand pounds, her mother 
having seized all the rest of the fortune of her 
father. But such was her unnatural spite against 
her daughter that she refused her consent for three 
months, and although she was at last obliged to 
give it, she would give neither dot, trousseau , nor 
presents, all of which were provided by the good 
Abbess. 

She came to the wedding with the son and 
daughter of her second marriage ; the latter was 
afterwards the celebrated Mme. de Montesson. 
But she managed permanently to cheat her elder 
daughter out of nearly the whole of the property of 
her father, and always behaved to her and to her 
children with the most heartless cruelty. 

The mania for education which characterised 



358 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

F61icit6 through life began at an early age. While 
still a child she had a fancy to give instruction to 
the little boys who came to cut reeds growing by 
the pond or moat at the foot of the terrace of the 
chateau. 

As the window of her room looked upon the 
terrace, and was only five feet from the ground, she 
let herself down by a cord, taking care to choose 
the days when there was a post, Mile, de Mars 
was busy writing to her friends, and her mother 
out of the way. Leaning upon the low wall of the 
terrace she instructed the little boys who stood 
below in what she happened to know herself, i.e., 
the catechism, the beginning of the principles of 
music, and certain tragedies which she and they 
declaimed, and as these instructions were mingled 
with cakes, fruit, and toys which she threw over the 
wall to them, they were very well attended, until 
Mile, de Mars one day surprised them, and laughed 
so heartily at the verses recited in patois by the little 
boys that the class came to an end. 

From her earliest childhood Felicity had shown a 
remarkable talent for music and acting, of which 
her mother was so proud that she did her best to 
spoil the child by bringing her forward on every 
occasion to display her talents. She learned to 
sing, to play the harp, to recite verses ; she was 
dressed up as an Amour or a Hebe, she acted 
Iphigenia and Hector and Zaire, and the constant 
flattery and notice she received evidently and 
naturally turned her head and laid the foundation 
of that vanity and self-satisfaction which appears so 
conspicuously in the records of her life. 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 359 

When she was about twelve years old she left 
Burgundy with her mother and Mile, de Mars. 
They travelled partly by boat on the Loire, partly 
with their own carriage and horses, to Paris, where 
they established themselves, and where Felicite 
pursued her musical studies with increased ardour. 
She must have been a precocious young person, for 
when she was eleven years old the son of the neigh- 
bouring doctor fell in love with her, managed to 
give her a note, which she showed to Mile. Mars, 
and meeting with indignant discouragement, he ran 
away for three years, after which he came home and 
married somebody else. 

M. de Saint-Aubin, meanwhile, whose affairs, 
which grew worse and worse, were probably not 
improved by his mismanagement nor by the 
residence of his wife and daughter in Paris, stayed 
in Burgundy, coming every now and then to see 
them. Mile, de Mars had left them, to the great 
grief of F6licit6, who was now fourteen, and whom 
the Baron de Zurlauben, Colonel of the Swiss 
Guards, was most anxious to marry ; but, as he was 
eighty years old, she declined his offer, and also 
another of a young widower who was only six-and- 
twenty, extremely handsome and agreeable, and had 
a large fortune. 

By this time, however, she had made up her mind 
to marry an honime de qiialiU, who belonged to the 
court. What she then wished was to marry a 
certain M. de la Popeliniere, whom she thought 
combined the advantages she desired, though he 
was nothing more illustrious than a fermier general^ 
besides being an old man. However, her admifa- 



36o HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

tion was not sufficiently returned for him to be of 
the same opinion. 

Since the departure of Mile, de Mars the vanity 
and thirst for admiration fostered by her mother's 
foolish education had greatly increased, but between 
Mme. de Saint-Aubin and her daughter, though 
there was affection, there was neither ease nor 
confidence ; the young girl was afraid of her 
mother, but adored her father. The society into 
which she was thrown formed her character at an 
early age, and the artificial, partly affected, partly 
priggish tone which is apparent in all her 
voluminous writings detracted from the charm of 
her undoubtedly brilliant talents. 

She already played the harp so remarkably as to 
excite general admiration, and amongst those who 
were anxious to be introduced to and to hear her 
was the philosopher d'Alembert. 

Felicity was very much flattered when she heard 
this, and very much disgusted when she saw him, 
for he was ugly, common-looking, had a shrill 
voice, and told stories that displeased her. 

D'Alembert was one of the most constant and 
intimate habitues of the salon of Mme. Geoffrin, 
then the stronghold of the philosophers and 
encyclopedists, as that of the Duchesse de 
Luxembourg was of the aristocratic beau nionde. 

There was also the salon of Mme. du Deffand, 
who, while more decidedly irreligious and 
atheistical than Mme. Geoffrin, was her superior 
in talent, birth, and education, and always spoke 
of her with the utmost disdain, as a bourgeoise 
without manners or instruction, who did not know 



MADAME DE GENLIS 361 

how to write, pronounce, or spell correctly, and saw 
no reason why people should not talk of des z haricots. 

D'Alembert, one of the leading encyclopaedists, 
like most of them, intensely vain, and about whose 
origin nothing was known, claimed to be the 
illegitimate son of the Marquise de Tencin, of 
scandalous reputation. Mme. de Cr6quy, in her 
" Souvenirs," scorns the idea, saying also that much 
of the evil spoken of Mme. de Tencin was untrue ; 
but it is certain that many dark and mysterious 
rumours clung to the hotel Tencin, the garden of 
which extended over what is now the rue de la 
Paix. Originally intended for the cloister, Mile, de 
Tencin refused to take the vows at Grenoble, and 
was a conspicuous figure in the wild orgies of the 
Regency. An intimate friend of the notorious 
John Law, then controller-general of finance, she 
succeeded, partly by his influence, in getting her 
brother made Cardinal and Archbishop of Embrun, 
and during his lifetime did the honours of his hotel, 
where, during the days of his power, John Law was 
a leading spirit. Fortunes were lost and won there 
in a night, but darker secrets than those of the 
gambling table were whispered concerning the 
hotel Tencin, its inhabitants and guests. More than 
ordinary scandals, even in the days of the Regent 
Orleans and his shameless daughters, were circu- 
lated, and even the murder of one of her lovers 
was so far believed that Mme. de Tencin was 
arrested, though shortly afterwards acquitted. 

After her brother's death she lost much of her 
prestige, and held her salon in the rue St. Honore, 
most of her habitues, after her death, transferring 
themselves to the house of Mme. Geoffrin. 



CHAPTER II 

M. de la Haie— Death of the Dauphin — M. de Saint-Aubin goes to 
St. Domingo — Taken prisoner by the English — Returns to 
France — Imprisoned for debt — His death — Difficulties and 
poverty — Felicite marries the Comte de Genlis — His family — 
The Abbesse de Montivilliers and the robbers — Life in the 
convent — Birth of a daughter. 

THE Marquis de la Haie, uncle of F^licit^ by 
the second marriage of her grandmother, 
strongly disapproved of the way in which his 
mother treated his half-sister and her children 
He vainly tried to influence her to behave better to 
them, and showed them much kindness and affection 
himself. Unfortunately he was killed at the battle 
of Minden. A strange fatality was connected with 
him, the consequences of which can scarcely be 
appreciated or comprehended. He was one of the 
gentilhommes de la manche ^ to the Due de 
Bourgogne, eldest son of the Dauphin, and elder 
brother of Louis XVI. , who was extremely fond of 
him. One day he was playing with the boy, and 

' An office in the household of the eldest son of the heir to the 
throne, only given to young men of distinction. It was abolished 
after the death of the Due de Bourgogne. It was the same as 
les menins du Dauphin under Louis XIV. 

362 



MADAME DE GENUS 363 

in trying to lift him on to a wooden horse he let 
him fall. Terrified at the accident, and seeing that 
the Prince had not struck his head, had no wound 
nor fracture nor any apparent injury, he begged 
him not to tell any one what had happened. The 
Due de Bourgogne promised and kept his word, 
but from that day his health began to fail. None of 
the doctors could find out what was the matter 
with him, but, in fact, he was suffering from 
internal abscesses, which ultimately caused his 
death. Not till after La Haie had fallen at Minden 
did he confess, " It is he who was the cause of my 
illness, but I promised him not to tell." 

This young Prince possessed talent and spirit. 
Had not his life been sacrificed, the weak, unfor- 
tunate Louis XVL would never have been King, 
and who can tell how vast might have been the 
difference in the course of events ? 

Mme. de Saint-Aubin had found an old friend 
from her convent, Mme. de Cirrac, who introduced 
her to her sister, the Duchesse d'Uzes, and others, to 
whose houses they were constantly invited to supper, 
but the young girl, with more perception than her 
mother, began to perceive, in spite of all the 
admiration lavished upon her, that it was her singing 
and playing the harp that procured her all these 
invitations, and that she could not afford to dress 
like those with whom she now associated, and this 
spoilt her pleasure in going out. While her mother 
was in this way striving to lead a life they could not 
afford, her father, whose affairs grew more and 
more unprosperous, went to St. Domingo on 
business. 



3% HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

He did no good, and on his way home was taken 
prisoner by the English and carried to England. 
There, amongst other French prisoners, he met the 
young Comte de Genlis, an officer in the navy who 
had distinguished himself at Pondicherry, been 
desperately wounded, and gained the cross of 
St. Louis. They became great friends, and M. de 
Genlis expressing great admiration for a miniature 
of Felicity which her father constantly wore, M. de 
Saint-Aubin poured into his ears the manifold 
perfections of his daughter, and read to him the 
letters he frequently received from her. When 
M. de Genlis soon afterwards was set free, he 
used all the means in his power to obtain the 
release of his friend, and, in the meanwhile, 
called upon Mme. de Saint-Aubin at Paris, bring- 
ing letters from M. de Saint-Aubin, who three 
weeks afterwards was set at liberty, and returned 
to France ; but his affairs were in such a state 
that he was induced to give a bill which, when 
it fell due, he could not meet. Six hundred 
francs was all that was required to execute the 
payment, and Mme. de Saint-Aubin wrote to her 
half-sister, who had married a rich old man, M. de 
Montesson, asking her to give or lend her money. 
She refused to do so, and M. de Saint-Aubin was 
arrested and imprisoned. His wife and daughter 
spent every day with him for a fortnight, at the end 
of which, the money being paid, he was released. 
But his health seemed to decline, and soon after- 
wards he was seized with a fever which ended 
fatally, to the inexpressible grief of F61icit6, who 
always laid his death at the door of Mme. de 



MADAME DE GENLIS 365 

Montesson, whethei with justice or not it is 
impossible to say, though, at any rate, her refusal 
to help the sister who had been so shamefully 
treated, and who was in distress, sounds exceedingly 
discreditable. 

Felicite and her mother took refuge in an apart- 
ment lent them by a friend in a Carmelite convent 
in the rue Cassette, where they received the visits of 
different friends in the parloir. Amongst the most 
assiduous was the Baron d'Andlau, a friend of the 
late M. de Saint-Aubin, a man of sixty, very rich 
and of a distinguished family. He wished to marry 
Felicite, who refused him, but so great were the 
advantages of such an alliance that her mother 
desired her to reconsider the matter. As she still 
declined, he turned his attentions to her mother, 
and married her at the end of a year and a 
half. 

Meanwhile they stayed on at the convent, where 
Mme. de Saint-Aubin embroidered and wrote 
romances, one of which she sent to Voltaire, who 
wrote her several flattering letters ; Felicite played 
the harp to amuse the nuns and to assist in the 
services of the chapel, made friendships in the 
convent, and adored the good sisters, who passed 
their time in devotion and charity, and amongst 
whom reigned the most angelic harmony and 
peace. 

When they were obliged to give up their rooms in 
this convent, they moved to that of St. Joseph, 
in which Mme. de Saint-Aubin hired an apart- 
ment. 

Mme. du Deffand then occupied one in another 



366 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

part of the building, but at that time they had no 
acquaintance with her. The philosophers and the 
atheistic set had never at any time in her life the 
least attraction for Felicity, who held their irreligious 
opinions in abhorrence. 

Very near this convent lived the sister of her 
father, the Marquise de Sercey, and her family, with 
whom she spent much of her time. 

The young Marquis, her cousin, was starting for 
St. Domingo, and the day before his departure a 
fete de faniille took place, exceedingly characteristic 
of the France of the eighteenth century. 

Felicity composed some verses all about flowers 
and friendship, which were pronounced to be " very 
touching," and which she sang dressed up as a 
shepherdess, having first presented him with a 
bouquet. She next appeared in a Spanish costume 
singing a romance composed by her mother, and 
finally she played the harp, which seems to come in 
like a chorus throughout all her eventful life. 

Meanwhile, she and M. de Genlis had fallen in 
love with each other, and resolved to marry. As he 
had neither father nor mother, there was nobody 
whose consent he was absolutely bound to ask ; but 
a powerful relation, M. de Puisieux, who was the 
head of his family, had already, with his consent, 
begun to negotiate his marriage with a rich young 
girl. Instead of telling M. de Puisieux the state of 
the case while there was still time to retire without 
difficulty, M. de Genlis said nothing, but proposed 
that they should at once marry secretly, to which 
neither F^licite nor her relations seem to have 
made any objection. She had no money, and had 



MADAME DE GENUS 367 

refused all the marriages proposed to her ; here was 
a man she did like, and who was in all respects 
unexceptionable, only that he was not well off. 
But his connections were so brilliant and influential 
that they could soon put that right, and it was 
agreed that the marriage should take place from the 
house of the Marquise de Sercey. 

It was celebrated in the parish church at mid- 
night, and the day was publicly announced, and the 
young Countess and her harp consigned to the care 
of her husband. 

The announcement caused a tremendous uproar 
in his family, and the only relations who would have 
anything to do with them were the Count and 
Countess de Balincourt, who called at once and 
took a fancy to the young wife, who was only 
seventeen, clever, accomplished, attractive, and 
pretty. Mme. de Montesson also, pleased with the 
marriage of her niece, paid them an early visit, 
liked M. de Genlis, and invited them to her house. 

But the other relations of M. de Genlis would 
neither return his calls, answer his letters, nor 
receive him, with the exception of his elder brother, 
the Marquis de Genlis, who invited them to go 
down to Genlis, which they did a few days after 
their wedding. 

The young Comte de Genlis had left the navy, by 
the advice of M. de Puisieux, who had got him 
made a Colonel of the Grenadiers de France.^ He 
had only a small estate worth about four hundred a 
year and the prospect of a share in the succession to 
the property of his grandmother, the Marquise de 
' The Grenadiers de France had twenty-four colonels. 



368 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Dromeriil, who was eighty-seven and lived at 
Reims. 

M. de Puisieux was furious at being not only 
deceived and treated without consideration, but 
actually made a fool of, and that he was by no 
means a person to be trifled with the elder brother 
of the Comte de Genlis had found to his cost. 

No lad ever started in life with more brilliant 
prospects than the Marquis. At fifteen he already 
possessed the large estate of Genlis, free from debt 
or mortgage, that of Sillery was settled upon him, 
and he was already a colonel, owing to the influence 
of M. de Puisieux, his guardian, and a great favourite 
of Louis XV. 

" Conduct yourself properly," said he ; " you will 
make a great marriage. Being colonel at your age, 
you have a splendid military career before you, and 
as I look upon you as my son I will get the King to 
make Sillery into a duchy on the occasion of your 
marriage." 

All this was a certainty supposing he had pos- 
sessed the most moderate talents, and behaved with 
common decency. But at seventeen he was already 
notorious, even at the court of Louis XV., for his 
vicious life ; an incorrigible gambler, and over head 
and ears in debt. His guardian reproached him, 
and his debts were paid, but the same thing kept 
happening until, when he was twenty years old, he 
lost in one night five hundred thousand francs, 
his debts besides amounting to another hundred 
thousand. 

Having lost patience, and seeing nothing but 
ruin before him, M. de Puisieux appealed to 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 369 

the King, got a lettre de cachet, and shut up his 
hopeful ward at the Chateau de Saumur, where he 
remained for five years, while half of what he owed 
was being paid off. At the end of this time he was 
ordered to Genlis, where an allowance of fifteen 
thousand francs was made to him while the re- 
mainder of his debts were gradually paid, after 
which he was allowed to spend three months of 
the year at Paris, but M. de Puisieux refused to 
remove the " interdict " until he had made a good 
marriage. That the lettres de cachet had their abuses 
is incontestable, but they had their advantages too. 

Felicity found the Marquis very pleasant, frivo- 
lous, amusing, light-hearted, and of unalterable 
good temper. 

Some weeks after their marriage the Comte de 
Genlis had to rejoin his regiment, which was at 
Nancy, and as it was then not the custom for 
officers' wives to accompany them, and he thought 
Felicite too young to be left by herself at a court 
such as that of Louis XV., he decided to take an 
apartment for her at Origny, in a convent where he 
had relations, as people often did in such cases. 

Fdicit6 cried bitterly when her husband left her, 
but she soon dried her tears, and made herself 
happy in her new home. She had charming 
rooms in the interior of the conventual buildings, 
which were immense ; she had her maid with her, 
and her man-servant was lodged with those of the 
Abbess in the exterior part of the abbey. She 
dined with the Abbess, and her dejeuner was 
brought to her own apartment, which consisted, 
of course, of several rooms. 

25 



370 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

The abbey was very beautiful, and there were 
more than a hundred nuns besides the lay sisters 
and the pensionnaires (children and young girls 
being educated there). 

The Abbess was always of a noble family, the one 
at that time being Mme. de Sabran, and although 
no proofs were exacted, the nuns nearly all belonged 
to families of good blood. 

Each nun had a comfortable cell, and a pretty 
little garden of her own in the enclosure of the vast 
garden of the abbey. One nun, who was considered 
especially fortunate, had in her garden a rock from 
which came a spring of delicious water. 

The Abbess might receive in her apartment and 
at dinner whatever guests she chose, men or women, 
but no men might go to the cloisters or any other 
part of the abbey. She had a carriage, horses, and 
servants of her own, and might go out when and 
where she pleased, taking with her any nuns she 
chose. She often drove to see different farms, &c., 
belonging to the abbey, and to visit sick people. 

The state and power of some of these abbesses, 
and the comfortable, cheerful security of their 
lives at that time made the position much sought 
after. It was a splendid provision for the daughters 
of great houses, and a happy life enough if they did 
not wish to marry. The following anecdote is given 
by Mme. de Crequy, and, although it happened 
rather earlier in the eighteenth century, perhaps 
forty or fifty years before the time now in ques- 
tion, it is so characteristic of the state of things 
that still prevailed that it may not be out of place 
to give it. 



MADAME DE GENUS 371 

The Abbesse de Montivilliers was one of the 
greatest abbesses in France, and was at the time 
this happened Mme. du Froulay, whose niece, 
Mme. de Crequy, then a pensionnaire in the 
abbey, relates the story. 

"The huissiers and valets de porte, who Hved 
outside the enclosure, had permitted a poor 
beggar to take shelter every night under a lofty 
arch leading into the first court of the abbey. He 
was an unfortunate man, who had neither arms 
nor legs, and a poor woman, young and, they said, 
almost pretty, used to come and fetch him each 
morning with a sort of wheelbarrow, and establish 
him on the high road to beg. They had bread, 
soup, and cider given them at the abbey, but very 
often did not finish them. 

"Two murders had been committed upon that 
same high road ; the tribunal of the Abbess had 
discovered nothing, and terror spread through 
the country-side. . . . The peasants declared they 
were committed by evil spirits. 

" One autumn night, after ten o'clock, the beggar 
had not come in. They supposed the woman who 
took care of him had neglected to fetch him, and 
charitably waited till half-past. The sister cellarer 
sent for the keys, to take them, as usual, to the 
prioress, who would put them under her pillow. 
She was a demoiselle de Toustain, who, par paren- 
these, had had the golden ball of her prioress's staff 
engraved with the motto of her family, ' Tous-teints- 
de-sang ' {' All stained with blood '), which my aunt 
had thought out of place on an emblem of religious 
and pastoral office. She had remarked to the 



372 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Prioress, * My dear daughter, a war-cry is always 
improper for a bride of Jesus Christ. . . .' 

" Instead of the keys of the abbey strange news 
was brought to Mme. de Toustain. A rich and 
vigorous farmer had just been attacked on the 
high road. He had stunned with his club one 
of his assailants whom the soldiers of the mar6- 
chauss6e had brought with his accomplice to the 
archway. They asked for the prison to be opened 
to put them in, and for the farmer to be allowed to 
pass the night in the precincts, that he might not 
fall into the hands of the other robbers. The 
Prioress having replied that it was too late, they 
woke the Abbess, who ordered all the doors to 
be opened that the brigadier required, but the old 
Prioress was so obstinate about the rules that the 
Abbess had to get up herself and demand the keys, 
which otherwise she would not give up. 

"As an Abbess of Montivilliers is not rigorously 
cloistered, my aunt, who was perfectly charitable 
and courageous, thought herself obliged to go out 
to the first court, and did so, at any rate with a 
cortege suitable to her dignity. 

" She was preceded by a cross-bearer between 
two acolytes bearing tall candles, and followed by 
a dozen assistants, with veils down and crossed 
hands ; all the lay sisters of the abbey were 
ranged round their ladies in large grey capes, 
carrying lighted torches in those beautiful gothic 
lanterns, with the arms of the royal abbeys 
emblazoned in stained glass, which are used in 
processions at night round the cloisters. Never 
in modern romances have I seen anything so 



MADAME r>E GENUS 373 

romantic and picturesque as that nocturnal 
scene. 

" Mme. de Montivilliers ordered the gates of the 
prison to be thrown open, which no one but herself 
would have dared to do against the orders of the 
Prioress. She gave shelter and a cordial to the 
brave farmer, and ordered her surgeon to examine 
the wounded robber, who was a young man dressed 
in woman's clothes, and it was then learned from 
the farmer that the other criminal was that infernal 
beggar who had been sheltered beneath the porch 
of the abbey, before which he now lay on a litter 
waiting to be put in the dungeon. He had the torso 
of a giant, but no legs or arms, only a kind of stump 
of one arm. His head was enormous. . . . 

" When everything was disposed for the general 
safety Mme. de Montivilliers raised her veil, and 
every one knelt to receive her benediction." 

The robbers, who were both executed, were 
father and son. Their plan was for the cripple 
to beg for money to be dropped into his hat, then 
with his stump he pulled down a heavy weight 
hung in the tree above him which stunned the 
victim, who was then finished by the other. The 
farmer had been too quick for them. In the 
hollow or small cellar under the arch where he 
slept were found gold, ornaments, hair cut off the 
nuns, which was always sold for the profit of the 
Order of the Saint-Rosaire, daggers, and knives. 
How he got them all was never discovered. 

The young Comtesse de Genlis was very happy 
at Origny, and amused herself like a child amongst 
the nuns. She ran about the corridors at night 



374 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

dressed like the devil, with horns ; she put rouge 
and patches on the nuns while they were asleep, 
and they got up and went down to the services in 
the church in the night without seeing themselves 
thus decorated ; she gave suppers and dances 
amongst the nuns and pupils to which no men 
were, of course, admitted ; she played many tricks, 
and wrote constantly to her husband and mother, 
the latter of whom came to spend six weeks with 
her. When her husband came back they went to 
Genlis, where her brother, who had just gone into 
the Engineers, paid them a long visit, to her great 

joy- 

Then they went to Paris, where her first child, a 
daughter, was born. 



CHAPTER III 

Presentation at Versailles — La Rosiere — Father and son — Mme. de 
Montesson — A terrible scene — The Comtesse de Custine — 
Mme. de Genlis enters the Palais Royal. 

AFTER her confinement the Marechale d'Etrd;e 
came to see Felicite, brought her a present of 
beautiful Indian stuffs, and said that her parents, 
M. and Mme. de Puisieux, would have the pleasure 
of receiving her when she was recovered. Also that 
Mme. de Puisieux would present her at Versailles. 

To this she looked forward with some trepida- 
tion, being dreadfully afraid of Mme. de Puisieux, 
who at first did not like her, and was extremely 
stiff. She drove down to Versailles in her carriage 
alone with her, Mme. de Puisieux saying very little, 
but criticising the way she did her hair. They 
slept at Versailles, in the splendid apartment of 
the Marechal d'Etree, who was very kind and 
pleasant to Felicite, and with whom she felt more 
at home. The next day she was obliged to spend 
such an enormous time at her toilette that by the 
time they started she was nearly tired out. Her 
hair was dressed three times over ; everything was 

375 



376 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

the object of some tiresome fuss, to which policy 
obliged her to submit in silence. 

At last, however, it was finished, and she stood 
in the presence of Louis XV. He was no longer 
young, but she thought him handsome and impos- 
ing. He had intensely blue eyes, a short but not 
brusque manner of speaking, and something royal 
and majestic about his whole bearing which distin- 
guished him from other men. He talked a great 
deal to Mme. de Puisieux, and made compli- 
mentary remarks about Felicity, after which they 
were presented to the Queen, who was lying in a 
reclining chair, already suffering from the languor 
of the fatal illness caused by the recent death of her 
son, the Dauphin. Then came the presentation to 
Mesdames, and to the "Children of France," 
and in the evening they went to the "jeu de 
Mesdames." 

After this Felicite and her husband returned to 
Genlis, where they spent the summer with the 
Marquis and the wife he had recently married. 

They passed their time in all the amusements of 
the vie de chateau in those days. 

The brothers went out shooting ; there were visits, 
dances, village fetes ; they dressed up, wrote verses, 
acted plays, and went to see the " Rosiere," an 
institution which, in this century, would be an 
impossibility, and which even then many people 
were beginning to find silly and useless, as may be 
shown by the remarks of a M. de Matigny, a magis- 
trate and bailli, who was staying in the house for 
some theatricals, and whom they tried to persuade 
to stop another day. 



MADAME DE GENLIS 377 

" I can't," he said. " I am obliged to go to 
another village." 

" What for ? " 

" Oh ! for that nonsense they do every year." 

" What nonsense ? " 

" I have to go there as a judge to hear all the 
rubbish and gossip you can imagine for forty-eight 
hours." 

" What about ? " 

" A most stupid thing, as I will tell you. It is not 
to adjudge a house, or a field, or an inheritance, but 
a rose ! " 

" How ? A rose ? You are to give a rose ? " 

" Eh ! Mon Dieii ! Yes, it is I who have to 
decide this important affair. It is an old custom 
established there in barbarous times. It is astonish- 
ing that, in a century so enlightened as ours, they 
should not have done away with a folly that gives 
me a journey of ten or twelve leagues every summer, 
through abominable cross-lanes, for I have to make 
two journeys for that absurdity." 

"A rose does not seem to me particularly bar- 
barous. But who do you give it to ? " 

"To the peasant girl declared to be the most 
virtuous and obedient to her parents." 

"And they assemble to give her a rose in 
public ? " 

" Yes. A fine reward for a poor creature who 
perhaps has not bread to eat, isn't it ? I shall have 
to go to-morrow to hear the evidence . . . and 
again in a month for what they call the coronation. 
It might amuse you to see it once. . . . But the 
strangest thing is the importance these good people 



378 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

attach to the ceremony, and the exultation of the 
relations of the ' rosiere.' One would think they 
had gained a valuable prize. It may amuse one for 
the moment, but when one has to see it every year, 
it is a ridiculous thing for a reasonable man." 

Felicite soon managed to make friends with all 
her husband's relations. M. and Mme. de Puisieux 
not only got over their prejudice against her, but 
were devoted to her. She spent months together 
with them at Sillery, and was a great deal with them 
at Paris, where her great delight was to know every 
one who could remember the court of Louis XIV., 
for which she had the most ardent admiration. 

There were, of course, still those to be met with 
whose appearance, manners, and ways recalled that 
stately, magnificent court, which long afterwards 
was the beau ideal Napoleon vainly tried to realise. 
Amongst others was the Due de Richelieu, one of the 
most brilliant, the most polished, the most dissipated, 
and the most heartless figures of the courts of Louis 
XIV. and Louis XV. His son, the Due de Fronsac, 
was, though not equally attractive, quite as vicious as 
his father, and they entertained for each other a 
hatred they generally veiled, at any rate in public, 
under the most polished sarcasm. 

On one occasion the Due de Richelieu so far 
departed from his usual habit as to recommend to 
the Due de Fronsac a lad who bore a strong resem- 
blance to himself, begging him to give him a post 
in his household and look after him. Fronsac, 
struck with jealousy of this protege of his father's, 
did all he could to corrupt and ruin him, taught 
him to be a gambler and reprobate, and finally led 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 379 

him into collision with himself in some love intrigue, 
challenged him to a duel, and killed him. 

Shortly afterwards, passing his father in the great 
gallery at Versailles, the Due de Richelieu said to 
him — 

" Monsieur, you have killed your brother." 

" I knew it," replied Fronsac, and passed on. 

Within the first few years of her marriage, Felicite 
had three children — two girls and a boy. 

The Comte de Genlis passed part of his time with 
her and the rest with his regiment, during which 
Felicite lived at Paris or stayed with his relations, 
chiefly the de Puisieux, leading a life of gaiety 
mingled with study and music, and going con- 
stantly into society, which has, perhaps, never been 
equalled in fascination and charm. 

Her aunt, Mme. de Montesson, had, since her 
marriage, been on very friendly and intimate terms 
with her, although the two had never any real affec- 
tion for each other, and now, M. de Montesson 
having died, his widow was aiming at nothing less 
than becoming the Duchess of Orleans, and found 
her niece a most useful and sympathetic confidant. 
For it had suited Mme. de Montesson to have a 
niece so well placed in society and so much sought 
after as the young Comtesse de Genlis. Felicite, 
on her part, was by no means blind to the advan- 
tage of having her aunt married to the first prince 
of the blood, and did everything in her power to 
forward her plans. The Duke had long been an 
admirer of Mme. de Montesson, who encouraged 
his devotion, was continually in his society, but had 
no intention whatever that their love-making should 



38o HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

end in any way but one. It was an ambition that 
seemed barred with almost insuperable difficulties, 
and yet it succeeded, though not to the full extent 
she desired. 

The excellent M. de Puisieux died, and Felicite 
found her life still more taken up by his widow, 
with whom she now passed much of her time. Just 
then took place the marriage of the Due de Berri, 
now Dauphin, with the Archduchess Marie Antoi- 
nette. Mme. de Puisieux would not go herself, but 
sent Felicite to see the fireworks in the place 
Louis XV. 

As M. de Genlis was with his regiment, she went 
with a friend, the Marquise de Brugnon, who was 
also young and pretty, MM. de Bouzolle and de 
Nedonchel. A room had been lent them on the 
ground floor of a new house from which to see the 
fete, and, fearing there would be a great crowd, 
they arrived directly after dinner. There was 
some delay before the fireworks began, and Felicite, 
who was, with all her talents, very often extremely 
silly and affected, declared that she had waited so 
long she did not care to see the fireworks, and 
persisted in keeping her eyes shut until they were 
over. 

The two gentlemen then went to look for the 
carriage, which had not come. They were away 
a long time. A fearful noise seemed to be 
going on in the place Louis XV., and when, after 
midnight, they did return, they assured the anxious, 
rather frightened young women that they could not 
find either carriage or servants, that the crowd was 
fearful, and there would be no chance of getting 



MADAME DE GENUS 381 

away for at least two hours, so they had brought 
them some cakes and a chicken for supper. They 
did not tell them of the fire, the horrible confusion, 
and the people being crushed to death in the place. 
But presently groans and cries were heard just under 
their window, and, looking out, they saw two old 
ladies in full evening dress, with paniers — the Mar- 
quise d'Albert and the Comtesse de Renti, who, 
while trying to get to their carriage, had got separ- 
ated from their servants and carried along by the 
crowd. As it was impossible to get them to the 
door, they leaned out of the window and drew them 
up with great difficulty. Mme. d'Albert was covered 
with blood, as some one in the crowd had snatched 
out one of her diamond ear-rings. 

Their carriage never came, so Mme. de Genlis 
had to take them home in hers, which appeared 
about two o'clock, and it was half-past three when 
she arrived at the hotel de Piiisieux, where every- 
body was up and in a fever of anxiety, thinking she 
was killed, for they knew what she did not, that 
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of persons had 
perished. 

Mme. de Puisieux was in tears on the staircase, 
and saw her come in with transports of joy. She 
had, for the first time since her widowhood, gone to 
supper with Mme. d'Egmont, daughter of the Due 
de Richelieu, close to whose hotel there was a corps 
de garde, to which numbers of bodies had been 
brought. The next day was one of desolation, 
especially among the artisans and the people of the 
lower classes, most of whom had lost some relative 
or friend. Mme, de Genlis's maid had to go to the 



382 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Morgue to identify the body of her sister ; the maitre 
d'hotel lost a cousin. The place Louis XV., fated to 
be the scene of the murder of Louis XVI,, Marie 
Antoinette, and so many innocent victims, had been 
a scene of death and horror at the celebration of 
their wedding fetes. No wonder people said it was 
an unlucky beginning, especially those who were 
only too glad to find evils attending the Austrian 
marriage. I 

The enthusiasm of Felicite for the court of 
Louis XIV. found worthier objects of admiration 
than the Due de Richelieu, in the excellent Marechal 
de Balincourt, and his friends, the Marechal de Biron 
and the Marquis de Carrillac. This last was ninety- 
one years old, Biron was eighty-six or seven, and 
Balincourt not more than seventy. He used to 
speak with envy of Biron, saying : " He was thirty 
years old at the death of the late king." When 
hearing them talk together she felt herself trans- 
ported into the days of that magnificent reign. 

They had all of them the stately courtesy, the 
chivalrous gallantry, and the delicate sense of 
honour which made them so bright a contrast to 
the vice and depravity around them. 

' In an old German town is a large and ancient house belonging 
to one of the principal families of the place. It contains a beautiful 
ball-room in the Venetian style, white and gold, with numbers of 
mirrors. But it is never used, being supposed to be unlucky, as 
the only occasions on which people have danced there were two : 
first, when Marie Antoinette passed through the town to be married 
to the Dauphin, when the room, which had been decorated on 
purpose for her, was only just finished in time, the Italian workmen 
leaving the ball-room as she entered it. The second time it was 
used was by Marie Louise, her niece, as she was on her way to 
marry the Emperor Napoleon. I have myself seen the room and 
been told the story. — Note by Author. 



MADAME DE GENUS 383 

Just after the last recorded incidents F^Iicit^ 
experienced a great sorrow in the loss of her friend, 
the Comtesse de Custine, an angelic woman, who, 
in spite of her beauty and youth (she was only 
twenty-four), lived as far as she could apart from 
the world, fearing the corruption and vice around 
her, and devoting herself to her religious and 
domestic duties. Her husband, who adored her, 
was necessarily absent with his regiment for long 
periods. Her brother - in - law, the Vicomte de 
Custine, of a character as bad as that of his brother 
was admirable, professed openly the most violent 
passion for Mme. de Genlis, who did not care at all 
for him, gave him no encouragement, but was rather 
flattered by the excess of his devotion and despair. 

When the Comtesse de Custine died, after a short 
illness, her husband was away with his regiment, 
and did not arrive in time to see her alive. During 
the first days of his despair, while looking over her 
papers, he came upon a packet of letters which 
proved beyond all doubt the infamous treachery of 
the Vicomte, who had made his pretended love for 
Mme. de Genlis a shield to hide his real passion for 
his brother's wife, which had been the horror and 
torment of her life, and which she had dreaded to 
reveal to her husband, whose temper was violent 
when aroused. 

For some time Felicite had been wishing to 
obtain a place at court, and it had been suggested 
that she should be placed in the household of the 
comtesse de Provence, whose marriage with the 
second fils de France was about to take place. 

But her aunt, Mme. de Montesson, was most 



384 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

anxious that she should enter the service of the 
Due de Chartres, who was the eldest son of the 
Due d'Orleans, and very much opposed to Mme. de 
Montesson's designs upon him. 

It appeared after a time that the post in the 
household of the Comtesse de Provence was not 
attainable, and in the first disappointment of this 
refusal, Mme. de Montesson told her niece that she 
had only to ask and she would receive an appoint- 
ment at the Palais Royal. 

Mme. de Custine, whom she consulted, was 
absolutely opposed to it, and after urging the 
strongest reasons against it, added that it was 
evidently her duty to stay and take care of Mme. 
de Puisieux as long as she lived. 

However, she allowed herself to be persuaded : 
she went with her aunt constantly to Raincy, the 
country place just bought by the Due d'Orleans ; 
she was attracted by the gentle, charming Duchesse 
de Chartres, she listened to the representations of 
the advantages she might secure for her children, 
and at length she laid the case before Mme. de 
Puisieux, who, unselfishly putting away the con- 
sideration of her own grief at their separation, and 
thinking only of the advantages to F61icit6 and her 
family, advised her to accept the position offered her. 

F61icit6 seems, however, to have always considered 
that she made a mistake, or, indeed, as she says, 
committed a fault, one of the greatest in her life, 
by doing so ; if so, it does not appear to be a sur- 
prising one, as the plan certainly would have offered 
strong attractions and inducements even to a 
woman less vain and ambitious than she was, but 



MADAME DE GENUS 385 

it is certain that it caused many calamities and 
exercised an evil influence for which no advantages 
could compensate. She left the hotel de Puisieux 
before Madame was up in the morning, as she 
dreaded the parting, and as her apartment in the 
Palais Royal was not ready she was lodged in one 
that had belonged to the Regent, with a door into 
the rue de Richelieu, She nearly had an accident 
before she got out of the carriage, and felt low- 
spirited and unhappy, wishing herself back in her 
own room at the hotel de Puisieux as she looked 
round the luxurious boudoir lined with mirrors, 
which she did not like at all, and which seemed 
associated with the orgies of the Regency, of which 
it had been the scene. 

She felt that she had exchanged security, the 
protection of a beautiful and well-ordered home, 
and the society of those she loved and respected, 
for dependence and danger. 



26 



CHAPTER IV 

Society of the Palais Roj^al — Philippe-Egalite — An Apparition — 
Mile. Mars — M. Ducrest — Marriage of Mme. de Montesson — 
Marly — The Prime Minister of France 

THE society of the Palais Royal was at that 
time the most brilliant and witty in Paris, 
and she soon became quite at home there. The 
Comtesse de Blot, lady of honour to the Duchesse 
de Chartres, was pleasant enough when she was not 
trying to pose as a learned woman, at which times 
her long dissertations were tiresome and absurd ; 
she was also ambitious, and what was worse, 
avaricious. 

Mme. de Clermont had been married at fifteen to 
the Comte de Choisi, who was much older than 
herself, and of whom she was dreadfully afraid ; 
but he was killed at the battle of Minden, and she 
had just married the Comte de Clermont, who was 
deeply in love with her. She was young, pretty, 
very capricious, and a friend of Mme. de Mon- 
tesson, and with all her faults never dull or tiresome, 
but full of merry talk and amusing stories ; the 
Comtesse de Polignac and the Marquise de Bar- 

bantour were also among the ladies of the household 

386 



MADAME DE GENLIS 387 

with whom Felicite was now associated ; two much 
older ones were the Comtesses de Rochambault and 
de Montauban. 

The Duchesse de Chartres, nee Mile, de Pen- 
thievre, was an angel of goodness and kindness. 
She had conceived so violent a passion for the Due 
de Chartres, when she had met him for the first 
time, that she declared she would either marry him 
or take the veil. It was a most unfortunate choice 
to have been made, especially by so saintly a per- 
sonage, for the court and society of Louis XV. did 
not include a more corrupt and contemptible 
character than the notorious Philippe-Egalit^. 

The attraction he felt for Mme. de Genlis, which 
had such a powerful influence upon her life and so 
disastrous an effect upon her reputation, had not 
begun when she first took up her abode at the 
Palais Royal. 

It was said by his illegitimate brothers, MM. de 
Saint-Far and Saint-Albin, to have begun on a 
certain evening when a quadrille arranged by Mme. 
de Genlis, in which each couple represented pro- 
verbs, went to the Opera ball, as the custom of 
those days permitted, and was suddenly disarranged 
by an enormous cat, which, mewing and clawing, 
rolled itself suddenly into the midst of the dancers. 
The cat proved to be a little Savoyard boy, dressed 
up in fur, dreadfully frightened at the abuse and 
kicks he received. 

This elegant trick was traced to the Due de 
Chartres and his friends ; and the good temper 
and general demeanour of Mme. de Genlis on 
this provoking occasion struck the Duke with 



388 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

admiration and compunction. Philippe-Egalite, 
contemptible as his disposition undoubtedly was, 
had also been very badly brought up, and when 
he was fifteen his father had given him a mistress 
who was afterwards notorious as Mile. Duthe ; he 
was always surrounded with a group of the fastest 
young men at court, the Chevalier de Coigny, MM. 
de Fitz-James, de Conflans, &c. 

" The social existence of Mme. de Genlis," writes 
Mme. d'Abrantes,! " is always a problem difficult to 
resolve ; it is composed of a mass of contradictions, 
one more extraordinary than the other. Of a noble 
family, whose name and alliances gave her the right 
to be chanoinesse of the Chapter of Alix, she was 
called until her marriage Comtesse de Lancy. She 
married M. de Genlis, a man of high rank, nearly 
related to most of the great families in the kingdom, 
and yet Mme. de Genlis had never in society the 
attitude of a graitde dame. . . . The important 
part this woman played in the destinies of France 
is of such a nature that one must notice it, more 
especially as she denies a mass of facts, the most 
notorious of the time in which her name is mixed 
up, . . . pretending never to have spoken to men 
of whom she must not only have been an ac- 
quaintance but a friend. Long before the first 
outbursts of the Revolution, Mme. de Genlis helped 
to prepare the influence which afterwards burst like 
an accursed bomb, covering with its splinters even 
the woman who had prepared the wick and perhaps 
lighted the match. 

' "Salons de Paris," t. i, p. 435 (Duchesse d'Abrantes, ed. 
Garnier). 



MADAME DE GENUS 389 

" It was an eccentric existence that she led in her 
youth, it must be confessed. That wandering, 
restless life had a character all the more strange 
because at that time it was so unusual ; going 
perpetually from one chateau to another, roaming 
about the country disguised as a peasant, playing 
tricks on everybody, eating raw fish, playing the 
harp like Apollo, dancing, acting, fencing. . . ." 

And now she was dame pour acconipagner to the 
Duchesse de Chartres, and her influence was soon 
felt in the society of the Palais Royal. 

On the nights when there was an opera, the 
Palais Royal was open to any one who had been 
presented there. The first invitation to supper 
meant a standing one for those days, therefore the 
Palais Royal was then crowded with guests ; and 
on other evenings the petits soupers, generally con- 
sisting of eighteen or twenty guests, were composed 
of those of the intimate society of the Duke and 
Duchess, who also had a general invitation. 

The Duchesse de Chartres continued for a long 
time very fond of Mme. de Genlis, who was ex- 
ceedingly attractive, not only because of her beauty, 
talents, and accomplishments, but because she was 
so interesting and amusing that it was impossible to 
be dull in her company. And though she had 
many faults she had also many excellent qualities. 
She was very affectionate and kind to those for 
whom she really cared, she was charitable, good 
tempered, and courageous ; her reputation so far 
was good, and her respect for religion made her 
shun the atheistical philosophic set whose opinions 
on those points she detested. One friend she had 



390 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

among them, the Comte de Schomberg, was an 
exception to this rule. He was a friend of Voltaire, 
and a pronounced atheist, but it was an understood 
thing that no religious subject should be discussed 
between them, and no word of impiety spoken in 
her presence. The events of the Revolution con- 
verted M. de Schomberg, and he died some years 
after it an ardent Christian. 

Many of these disbelievers in Christianity were 
terribly afraid of ghosts. " J^e n'y crois pas, mats je 
les redoiite," as somebody once remarked. 

She made one or two journeys to Holland and 
Belgium when she wished for a change, but in 1775 
a terrible grief overtook her, in the death of her son, 
now five years old. The children were living near, 
and her mother was then with them when she 
herself caught measles, and as often happens when 
they are taken later in life than is usual, she was 
extremely ill, and it was impossible to tell her that 
her children had the same complaint. 

M. de Genlis, who had also a post at the Palais 
Royal, was nursing her, and her mother came every 
day to see her. 

The child died at five o'clock one r .orning. " At 
the same hour," she writes, " of the same day, I was 
alone with my nurse, and, raising my eyes to the 
canopy of my bed, I distinctly saw my son in the 
form of an angel . . . holding out his arms to me. 
This vision, without exciting any suspicions, caused 
me great surprise. I rubbed my eyes several times, 
but always saw the same figure. My mother and 
M. de Genlis came at about eleven ; they were 
overcome with grief, but I was not surprised, for I 




/i. H. Bcarne 



AMSTERDAM 



To face page 3go 



MADAME DE GENLIS 391 

knew I was ill enough to make them very anxious. 
I could not help looking always at the canopy of 
my bed with a sort of shudder, and my mother, 
knowing that I was afraid of spiders, asked if I saw 
one ... at last I said I would not tell them what 
I saw lest they should think my brain was deranged, 
but they pressed me until I told them." 

They concealed the calamity for five weeks, and 
then brought her a miniature of the child as an 
angel. 

Felicity recovered, and went to Spa, and to travel 
in Belgium. After her return, as she was walking 
one day in the Palais Royal gardens, she met a 
young girl with a woman of seven or eight and 
thirty, who stopped and gazed at her with an earnest 
look. Suddenly she exclaimed — 

" It is Mile. Mars ! " Embracing each other with 
joy, they arranged to meet the following day, and 
Mile. Mars presented herself accordingly at the 
Palais Royal, where they spent the morning talking 
of old times and of present circumstances. Mile. 
Mars was not very happy where she now lived, and 
Felicite succeeded in placing her as governess to 
the children of the Princess Louise de Conde, 
meanwhile seeing her every day. She married 
soon afterwards. 

About this time she arranged for her brother an 
excellent marriage which turned out very happily. 
She had the young people to live with her at first, 
and M. de Genlis was extremely kind to them ; but 
at the end of some months Mme. de Montesson, in 
whom she had contrived to arouse an interest in 
them, took them to live permanently with her. 



392 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

As Saint-Aiibin had long been sold, her brother 
now called himself M. Ducrest. 

In her " Memoirs," Mme. de Genlis says that the 
years she spent at the Palais Royal were the most 
brilliant and the most unhappy of her life. 

The brilliant social success, and the life, a perpetual 
scene of pleasure, excitement and intense interest, 
were chequered with all sorts of annoyances. The 
envy she excited by her social triumphs, the favour 
of the Duchess, and later, of the Due de Chartres, 
displayed itself as usual in slanders, misrepresenta- 
tions, and different spiteful actions; while the 
hostility she aroused caused her more astonishment 
than would have been expected in a woman 
possessing so much knowledge of the world, and 
more unhappiness than one might suspect in one so 
entirely self-satisfied. 

And although she was undoubtedly maligned, like 
many persons who gave less opportunity for gossip; 
still it was the consequence of her own act in 
placing herself in such a position, and identifying 
herself with such a crew. Her futile attempts to 
whitewash Philippe-Egalit^ can deceive nobody : he 
was too well-known. When she lays all his faults 
to his being badly brought up and surrounded with 
bad companions, one recollects the numbers of 
men and of women too, who, brought up and Hving 
under the same conditions, suffered and died with a 
heroism and loyalty that redeemed the faults and 
follies of their past. 

And as to Mme. de Genlis, it appears more than 
probable that if she had followed the advice of 
Mme. de Custine, as she promised to do, and re- 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 393 

mained at the hotel de Puisieux she would still 
have been a great literary and social success and 
also a better and happier woman. 

Mme. de Montesson had so far succeeded in her 
plan that she had, in 1773, been privately married to 
the Duke of Orleans. The marriage was celebrated 
at midnight in the presence of a small number of 
persons of high position. But the marriage, though 
known and recognised in society, was only a mor- 
ganatic one. Louis XV. would never hear of her 
taking the rank and title of Duchess of Orleans, 
or any precedence that would have been the con- 
sequence. This was of course a continual grievance 
to her, but she was obliged to resign herself and 
make the best of the position, at any rate far more 
exalted than any to which she had the least pre- 
tension to aspire. She had an unbounded influence 
over the Due d'Orl^ans, in whose household and 
amongst whose friends she was always treated as a 
princess, and with whom she led a life of unbounded 
luxury and magnificence. Like Mme. de Maintenon 
after her morganatic marriage with Louis XIV. she 
renounced the title of Marquise and was known as 
Mme. de Montesson, possibly thinking like the hero 
of the well-known incident: "Princesse je ne puis 
pas. Marquise je ne veux pas, Madame je suis." ^ 

The year after the marriage Louis XV. died, but 
Louis XVI. would not depart from the attitude his 
grandfather had assumed, with regard to the mor- 
ganatic marriage of the Due d'Orl^ans. 

The journeys of the court to the different country 

' It was one of the family of Rohan who said : " Roi ne puis, 
prince ne daigne, Rohan je suis." 



394 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

palaces, Versailles, Compi^gne, Fountainebleau, 
Marly, &c., were affairs of enormous expense, and 
ceremony so preposterous, that, for instance, there 
was one sort of court dress for Versailles, and 
another, equally magnificent and uncomfortable, for 
Marly. On the ist of January Louis XV. always 
arranged with care and consideration the journeys 
for the year to the different palaces, of which there 
were a great number. Mme. Campan ^ in her 
" M^moires," says that Marly, even more than 
Versailles, transported one vividly to the reign of 
Louis XIV.; its palaces and gardens were like a 
magnificent scene in an opera ; fountains, pavilions, 
statues, marble basins, ponds and canals, thickets of 
shrubs, groups of tall trees, trellised walks and 
arbours, amongst which the ladies and gentlemen 
of the royal households and court walked about in 
full dress; plumes, paniers, jewels, and trains making 
any enjoyment of the country out of the question, 
but impressing with awe and admiration the crowds 
who were admitted to the gardens, and to the 
suppers and gambling at night. Every trace of 
this palace and gardens disappeared in the Revo- 
lution. 

During the latter part of the reign of Louis XV. 
the rule of perpetual court dress at Marly was given 
up, and when Louis XVI. came to the throne he 
tried, but without success, to discourage the gambling, 
which he hated ; but what Marie Antoinette dis- 
liked was the stiffness, fatigue, and restraint of these 
journeys, and she insisted that at Trianon, which the 
King had given her, she should be free from the 

^ " Souvenirs " (Campan), p. 209. 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 395 

intolerable gene of the etiquette which the last two 
reigns had so increased as to be an intolerable 
burden, in former centuries unknown at the court 
of France. 

The party in opposition to the Queen, absolutely 
unscrupulous and vindictive, hesitated at no 
calumny or exaggeration that might do her 
injury ; and everything seemed to create fresh 
enemies for her. 

When she received the ladies of the Court on her 
accession, Mme. de Clermont-Tonnerre, a thought- 
less girl of sixteen, sat on the carpet all the time, 
hidden by the ladies of the household who stood 
before her, making grimaces behind her fan, whis- 
pering nonsense, pulling the dresses of her com- 
panions and making them all, even the Queen 
herself, unable to restrain their laughter ; so that 
great offence was given and the blame of course laid 
on the Queen. The King was very angry, sent for 
Mme. de Clermont-Tonnerre and reprimanded 
her ; whereupon she turned all her spite against the 
Queen, and all the Clermonts went into opposition. 

When first he succeeded to the throne and the 
question arose who was to be prime minister, 
Madame Victoire wrote to Louis XVI., recom- 
mending M. de Machault, then exiled from Paris. 

The King accordingly wrote a letter summoning 
him ; but meanwhile Madame Adelaide, supported 
by her two youngest sisters, Mesdames Sophie and 
Louise, and having persuaded the Queen to join 
them, appealed to him in favour of M. de Maurepas, 
a man as stupid, prejudiced, and incapable as 
could be found. 



396 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

However, the King soon began to yield. 

" But my letter has gone," he said ; " what shall 
I do?" 

" I hope not," said the Queen, " we shall see." 
And she rang the bell. "Campan, the King has an 
order to give you." 

"Go," said Louis XVI. in a tone of vexation, 
"and tell the page of the grande ectirie to bring 
me back the letter I gave him." " But Madame," 
turning to the Queen, " I warn you that if he 
is gone it is all the better for M. de Machault. I 
cannot recall my confidence when he holds the 
proof in his hand." ^ 

Campan ran ; the page was already in the saddle, 
but was altering a stirrup, which changed the 
destiny of France. The letter was brought back. 

When Maurepas received this summons he 
jumped and capered with joy ; danced round the 
room with his wife and told his cat it should have 
the entree at Versailles. Thus he prepared to govern 
the kingdom of France. 

' " Souvenirs de Marie Antoinette," t. 2, p. ii (Adhemar). 



CHAPTER V 

La Muette — Sunrise — Italy — Nocturnal adventure — Governess to 
the children of Orleans — Scandalous reports — Marriages of 
her daughters — Death of the elder one — The Comte de 
Valence 

ONE of the Royal palaces was La Muette, and it 
was on one of the journeys there that the 
Queen took it into her head to see the sun rise. It 
appeared a harmless fancy enough, and she suggested 
it to the King. 

"Indeed," he said, "you have a strange fancy. 
Night is made to sleep in ; however, if it amuses you 
I have no objection so long as you do not expect 
me to be of the party." 

Mme. de Noailles, to whom it was also necessary 
to speak of the proposed plan, was much perturbed. 

"Really," she said, "this question seems to me 
very difficult to solve. A Queen go to see the sun 
rise I I do not know whether in the days of Louis 
XIV. it would not have been thought " 

" Eh ! Madame," cried the Queen impatiently, 
"spare us ceremonial in the face of nature." 

" However, it is impossible to dispense with an 
escort of equerries, pages, valets de pieds to carry 

397 



398 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

torches, piqtieurs, gardes du corps, and a detachment 
of the niaison rouge." 

"Comtesse de Noailles, you forget the grand- 
aumonier, to bless the rising sun after having 
exorcised the spirits of darkness." 

The Comtesse de Noailles frowned. 

"Ah! Madame I'Etiquette," cried Marie 
Antoinette, laughing, " God made patience the 
virtue of kings." 

Directly the Due de Chartres heard of the project 
he came to ask to be of the party, and as he was 
not as yet the open enemy of the royal family, his 
request was granted. 

On the night fixed upon the party, consisting of 
the Queen, the Comtes and Comtesses de Provence 
and d'Artois and some ladies and gentlemen of their 
households, started at three in the morning for 
Meudon, where a banquet was prepared, after which 
they went out on the terraces to see the sun rise. 
It was a lovely night, lamps were scattered about 
the gardens, guards were posted everywhere, the 
Queen's ladies followed her closely. There was a 
splendid sun rise and all passed off well ; but a 
few days afterwards came out an infamous libel 
called " I'Aurore," containing accusations and state- 
ments so atrocious that the King, taking it to the 
Queen, said — 

" Madame, do you know what it costs to wish for 
once in one's life to see the sun rise ? Read that and 
tell me what you think of the poetry of our friends." 

The Queen read it, burst into tears, and demanded 
justice and vengeance, which the King, throwing 
down and trampling on the infamous paper, 




mf'^-if"^-. 



^^ 



fk<^Tnt 



To face page 390 



MADAME DE GENUS 399 

promised ; but said it was difficult to find the 
persons guilty of writing and selling it — it seemed 
to have been printed in Holland and the authorship 
was guessed to be one of the Radical set : Voltaire, 
Brissot, or perhaps the Due de Chartres. 

Marie Antoinette spoke to the latter about it, and 
of course he indignantly denied all complicity, but 
confessed that the libel had been sent him in an 
envelope, adding that he had thrown it into the 
fire, and if any of his people had been more 
imprudent he would dismiss them at once. 

For the first circulation had been traced to some 
of his household. He sent away two men in his 
service, but it was well known that he paid them 
their wages all the time and soon took them back 
again. 

It was asserted by one person that she had seen 
the MS. of the *^ Aurora" on the table of Mme. de 
Genlis, but it is not likely that she would have been 
guilty of mixing herself in such an infamy ; it was 
one of the slanders, probably, of which she com- 
plained, but was the result of associating intimately 
with such a man as the Due de Chartres. 

The Count and Countess de Genlis accompanied 
the Duke and Duchess de Chartres to Bordeaux, 
where he embarked, after a naval review ; and the 
Duchess proceeded on a tour in Italy. To Felicite 
this was a time of enchantment. The journeys at 
that time were adventurous, and the Cornice road 
was then an affair of difficulty if not danger. They 
went by sea to Nice, spent a week in that delicious 
climate, and determined to make what she called 
"the perilous journey" from Nice to Genoa. They 



400 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

went on mules over the pass by Turbia, and found 
the Cornice as she says truly a corniche — so narrow 
that in some places they could hardly pass singly, 
and often they had to get down and walk. They 
slept at Ospedaletto, the Duchess, Felicite, and 
the Countess de Rully in one room ; the Duchess 
on a bed made of the rugs of the mules, the others, 
on cloaks spread upon a great heap of corn. After 
six days of perils and fatigues, and what they called 
horrible precipices, they got to Genoa. 

They went to Rome, Venice, Naples, and all the 
little Italian Courts, at which they were received with 
great honour. 

Felicite flirted and amused herself as usual, and at 
the court of Modena, the Comte de Lascaris took 
a violent fancy to her. He was surintendant of 
the palace, and arranged the distribution of the 
different apartments, and Felicity found her room 
was at a great distance from that of the Comte de 
Genlis, and lined with mirrors. 

After supper one evening she had retired to her 
room and was sitting up late, writing ; when one of 
the mirrors moved, and from a door behind it 
entered M. de Lascaris, and threw himself at her feet. 
She sprang up with a cry, the table fell upon him, 
the lamp went out, her maid rushed in — alarmed by 
her mistress calling loudly for her — in her nightdress 
candle in hand, while M. de Lascaris disappeared 
through the door he had came in by, with a cut on 
his cheek from the table, which excited the curiosity 
and laughter of the court. To Felicite Italy was 
one long enchantment, and with reluctance she 
came back to France. 



MADAME DE GENUS 401 

For some years Mme. de Genlis had been dame 
pour accompagner la Duchesse de Chartres, though it 
was suggested that it was more the Duke than the 
Duchess whom she accompanied ; but she now 
exchanged this designation for that of "governess 
to the Princesses of Orleans." The Duchess, who 
had always longed for a daughter, was delighted 
with these two and Mme. de Genlis, who wished 
to have charge of them from the first. 

As, during the first years of their lives, even 
Felicity herself could not begin to instruct them, 
she paid a daily visit of an hour to them, and 
occupied herself in writing a book on education 
for their use and that of her own children. She 
also wrote " Adfele et Theodore," and numbers of 
other books, novels, essays, plays, treatises on 
education, &c., which had great success. 

When the twin daughters of the Due de Chartres 
were five years old, one of them caught the measles, 
got a chill and died, to the great grief of the Duchess 
and the remaining twin, Madame Adelaide d'Orl^ans. 
One day the Due de Chartres came to consult 
F61icit6, as he was in the habit of doing on all 
occasions ; and on this one he confided to her 
that he could not find a tutor he liked for his 
boys, that they were learning to speak like shop 
boys, and that he wished she would undertake 
their education as wel4 as that of their sister ; to 
which she agreed. It was arranged that the Duke 
should buy a country house at Belle Chasse, where 
they should spend eight months of the year ; the 
Duchesse agreed to the plan, all was settled, and 
Mme. de Genlis embarked on the career of educa- 

27 



402 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

tion, which had always been a passion with her, 
and which she could now pursue with every 
advantage. 

The three young Orleans princes were, the Due 
de Valois, aftewards Louis Philippe, the Due de 
Montpensier, and the Comte de Beaujolais. The 
eldest was eight years old. 

Besides, she educated her own two daughters, her 
nephew, Cesar Ducrest, whose mother died and 
whose father (her brother) was given a post at the 
Palais Royal, a young cousin, Henriette de Sercey, 
and later on one or two other children she adopted. 
But what caused considerable speculation and 
scandal was the sudden appearance of a little 
girl, who was sent, she said, from England, to 
speak English with the other children amongst 
whom she was educated. On perfectly equal terms 
with the Princes and Princesses of Orleans, petted 
and made much of by every one, she was, and still 
is supposed by many, perhaps by most people, to 
have been really the daughter of Mme. de Genlis 
and the Due de Chartres. At any rate, no English 
relations were ever forthcoming, and it was never 
clearly established where she came from, except 
that she was announced to have been sent over 
from England at the request of the Due de Chartres. 
She was remarkably beautiful and talented, and 
Mme. de Genlis brought her forward, and did 
everything to make her as affected and vain as 
she had been made herself. 

The life at Belle Chasse was, as she says, delicious. 
She had supreme authority, she was dispensed 
from the trouble of paying visits to any one but 



MADAME DE GENUS 403 

Mme. de Puisieux ; she had her mother and children 
to live with her ; her husband and brother had posts 
in the household of the Due de Chartres. 

She could receive her friends as she pleased ; her 
literary reputation stood very high ; the Duchesse 
de Chartres was still infatuated about her ; while 
the Duke 

Mme. de Genlis made a great display of dis- 
interestedness, she refused the 20,000 francs a 
year offered her by the Duke as governess to his 
children, declaring that she would educate them 
for nothing ; she refused also the diamonds sent 
by the Duke and Duchess as a wedding present to 
her daughter, neither of which refusals there was 
the slightest occasion to make, but theatrical, un- 
necessary things were always what she preferred to 
do. And at the same time she and her family were 
becoming very rich. Of course her books, bought 
by all her friends at court, in society, and every- 
where, brought her a good deal, but she always 
had money for everything she wanted. She was 
promised for her eldest daughter on her marriage, 
her own former place at the Palais Royal, and a 
regiment for her son-in-law, her relations were 
placed and provided for, and she, of course, lived 
in state and luxury with the Orleans children, 
amongst whom her own were educated. 

Her eldest girl, Caroline, was of a charming dis- 
position, and remarkably beautiful. She inherited 
her own musical talents and was extremely clever 
and accomplished. When she was fourteen she was 
married to a Belgian, the Marquis de Lawoestine ; 
and the wedding was celebrated with great state 



404 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

at the Palais Royal, the Marechal Prince de Soubise 
acting as father to the bridegroom. She gave the 
young girl a magnificent trousseau, diamonds, 
plate, porcelaines, &c., and after the ceremony 
her daughter was left under her care for two 
years more. 

In many ways it is probable that no one was 
more capable of giving a first-rate education than 
Mme. de Genlis, who had herself so much know- 
ledge and experience, such superior talents and 
genuine love of art, books and study. She was 
also careful and strict in the religious education 
of her pupils, and perfectly free from any of the 
atheistic opinions of the day. 

But her practice cannot be said to have been 
altogether in accordance with all the professions 
and talk about virtue and duty, which she made 
such a parade. 

She was so talked about with the Due de Chartres 
that the Queen" would not receive her at her balls,i 
for Marie Antoinette was trying to bring some 
reform into the licence prevalent at court, where 
there was no end to the scandalous incidents that 
kept happening. 

One or two of the gentlemen-in-waiting were 
found stealing the valuable porcelaines de Sevres 
in the ante-rooms, to the great anger of the King. 

A gentleman of the court came home late one 
night, and could not get into his wife's room, 
because the maid, who slept in an ante-room, 
could or would not be awakened. As he was 
going very early in the morning to hunt, he 
' " Souvenirs de Marie Antoinette," t. ii. p. 164 (Ctsse. d'Adhemar). 



MADAME DE GENUS 405 

changed his clothes in a hurry without going to 
bed, and on arriving at the place of meeting 
was greeted by his friends with a shout of laugh- 
ter, and inquiries if he wished to exchange his 
hunting dress for the costume of the Queen's 
pages ; as he had put on in haste and half- 
darkness the haut-de-chausse of one of them, 
which certainly had no business to be in his 
room. 

Like many other persons, Mme. de Genlis, 
though she chose to act in a way that she must 
have known to be suspicious, even if there had 
been no real harm in it, made a great outcry when 
the remarks were made, and conclusions drawn 
that might have naturally been expected. 

She posed as a victim, talked of jealousy, slander, 
ingratitude, &c., and went on with her intimacy 
with the Due de Chartres, who was at that time 
engaged in the most abominable intrigues and 
secret attacks upon the Royal Family, especially 
the Queen ; and whether rightly or wrongly, 
Mme. de Genlis was supposed to be mixed up 
with them. 

There had been no disunion or quarrel between 
her and the Comte de Genlis ; they had always 
been attached to one another, and no break 
occurred between them ; she continued to be 
devotedly loved by Mme. de Puisieux, whose 
death she now had to lament. 

But all kinds of stories were in circulation about 
her, which, of course, she indignantly denied. One 
of them concerned the marriage she now made for 
her second daughter with M. de Valence, a man of 



406 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

high rank, large fortune, and remarkably bad 
character, who, moreover, had been for years, and 
continued to be, the lover of her aunt, Mme. de 
Montesson. It was positively declared that the 
Duke of Orleans, going unexpectedly into the 
room, found Valence on his knees before Mme. 
de Montesson, who with instant presence of 
mind, exclaimed — 

" See this absurd Valence, on his knees to me, 
asking for the hand of my niece." 

" And why not grant it ? " 

" Can I grant it without consulting you ? " 

" Well ! we will promise it him ; yes, we will 
promise him." 

And the marriage was decided. 

Mme. de Genlis in her "Memoirs" denies this 
story, but goes on to say with that half candour, 
which is perhaps the most deceptive, that she can- 
not but confess that her ambition overruled her 
in this matter ; that she thought what was said 
about Mme. de Montesson and M. de Valence 
might not be true, or if it were, this marriage 
would put an end to the liaison ; and what seems 
contradictory, that she believed the reason her 
aunt was so eager for the marriage was, that she 
thought it would be a means of attaching to her 
for ever the man she loved. But that her daughter 
had great confidence in her, and would be guided 
by her in the way she should behave. 

Now Mme. de Genlis had without the least doubt 
many good and distinguished qualities, and as we 
all know, human nature is fallible and inconsistent ; 
but it would surely have been better that a woman, 



MADAME DE GENUS 407 

who could coolly and deliberately arrange such a 
marriage for her young daughter, simply and solely 
from reasons of worldly ambition, should not talk 
so much about disinterested virtue, contempt of 
riches, and purity of motives. 

It is probable that she deceived herself more than 
she did other people, and her life in fact, between 
the Duke and Duchess and their children, could 
not have been anything but a constant course of 
deception. 

Mme. de Genlis, however she might blind her- 
self, must have known quite well the real character 
of Philippe-Egalit6, and if she had all the desire she 
professed for the virtue and welfare of her pupils, 
she can hardly have thought that the example of 
one of the most dissipated scoundrels in France, 
whose health, as she owns, was early impaired by 
his vices, would be desirable for them to follow. 

But yet she took every opportunity of impressing 
his virtues upon them, telling them what an excel- 
lent father they had, and insidiously winning their 
affection away from their mother, under the form 
and pretence of the deepest respect and submission. 

The marriages of her daughters which had so 
delighted her ambition, had not brought her all the 
happiness she expected. 

Mme. de Lawoestine, the elder one, whom she 
describes as an angelic creature in whom no fault 
could be seen, died at one and twenty in her 
confinement. It was a terrible shock to her, and, 
it appears, also to the husband, although the con- 
tents of certain tablets of his wife's, which he 
found and gave to Mme. de Genlis some days 



4o8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

after her death, would seem to imply that he 
would not be inconsolable. 

One cannot help seeing in the sentiments ex- 
pressed and the manner of expressing them, the 
artificial, affected tone which with Mme. de Genlis 
had become her second nature, and which she had 
evidently inculcated into her daughter. 

The tablets had two columns, over one of v/hich 
was written, " Calculations of the infidelities of my 
husband during the five years of our marriage." 
They were written down year by year, and when 
all added up, came to twenty-one. 

Over the other column was written, " Let us see 
mine," and these were represented by a column 
of noughts. At the bottom was written, " Total : 
Satisfaction ! 1 " 

" And she really loved her husband ! " exclaimed 
Mme. de Genlis in a fervour of admiration. 

Countless were the inconsistencies of the faddists 
of the party to which she belonged, and in the 
crotchets of which she had educated her daughter, 
but what duty or reason or " satisfaction " could 
there be in such a calculation as this ? 

And what could be more contradictory to the 
jargon about Nature, whose guidance, impulses, feel- 
ings, &c., were to be so implicitly obeyed, than the 
spectacle of a woman in the height of her youth 
and beauty, loving her husband, and yet amusing 
herself by writing in her pocket-book in this cold- 
blooded manner, a long list of his infidelities and 
ending by expressing her satisfaction ? 

As to the other daughter, Mme. de Valence, her 
marriage had turned out just as might have been 



MADAME DE GENUS 409 

foreiold by any one of common sense. M. de 
Valence did not change his conduct in the least, he 
was still one of the most dissipated men in Paris 
though he never stooped to the dishonour of 
Philippe-Egalit6. He remained always the favourite 
of Mme. de Montesson, who at her death left her 
whole fortune to him. 

Mme. de Valence seems to have accepted the 
situation, but by no means with the Griselda-like 
" satisfaction " of her sister. Very soon her reputa- 
tion much resembled that of her husband, and many 
were the anecdotes told to illustrate the manners and 
customs of their menage. 

Calling one day upon Mme. de Montesson, Mme. 
de Valence was told by a new servant who did not 
know her, that Mme. de Montesson could not be 
seen ; she never received any one when M. de 
Valence was there. 

" I am sorry for that," she observed, as she gave 
her cards to the man, " especially as M. de Valence 
is my husband." 

De Valence was very handsome and a brave 
soldier ; he emigrated but refused to fight against 
France ; returned, obtained the favour of Napoleon, 
and retained that of Mme. de Montesson, who more 
than once paid his debts. He was supposed to be 
the son of a mistress whom his father adored, and 
to have been substituted for a dead child born to 
his father's wife, who always suspected the truth, 
never would acknowledge him as her son, nor leave 
him more money than she could help doing as she 
had no other children. 

Speaking of Pulcherie in her journal, Mme. de 



410 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Genlis, it may be remarked, does not venture to 
lavish upon her the unstinted praises which she 
pours upon her sister ; but remarks that when she 
left her care and entered society on her marriage, 
she had the most excellent ideas and sentiments, the 
purest mind, and the highest principles possible. 

It does not seem to occur to her that it was she 
herself who caused the destruction of all this purity 
and principle by giving her child to a man of 
notoriously bad character ; but without taking any 
blame to herself she goes on to say that Pulcherie 
was, and always would be in her eyes, gentle, sweet- 
tempered, kind-hearted, and easy to live with — 
which she probably was. 



CHAPTE^R VI 

Death of the Due d' Orleans — M. de GenHs — Sillery — Coming of 
the Revolution — The Bastille — Anger of the Duchesse d'Orleans 
— Dissensions. 

THE Duke of Orleans died 1785, and Mme. 
de Montesson, having been forbidden by 
Louis XVI. to put her household into mourning or 
assume the position of a Duchess Dowager of 
Orleans, retired for a few weeks into a convent and 
then returned to her usual life, having inherited a 
great fortune from the late Duke. 

Philippe-Egalite was now Due d'Orleans, and 
his eldest son Due de Chartres. That young prince 
was about seventeen, and like all the Orleans family, 
except the Duchess and the Comte de Beaujolais, 
was thoroughly indoctrinated with the detestable 
spirit that prevailed at the Palais Royal. 

The Marechale d'Etree, daughter of M. de 

Puisieux, died, and left all her large fortune, not to 

the spendthrift Marquis de Genlis, but to the Count, 

who, finding himself now very rich, wished to retire 

from the Palais Royal and live on his estates, and 

tried to induce his wife to accompany him. He 

said with truth that her proper and natural place 

411 



412 HEROIMES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

was with him, and he tried by all means in his 
power to persuade her to do what one would sup- 
pose a person constantly talking of duty, virtue, self- 
sacrifice, and the happiness of retirement, would 
not have hesitated about. 

That she persistently refused proves how much 
all these professions were worth, and this time she 
does in her memoirs blame herself for her conduct ; 
in fact, she declares that she felt ever afterwards a 
remorse that never left her, and that would be 
eternal ; as she considered herself the cause of the 
death of her husband. If she had gone with him as 
he entreated her to do and as she acknowledged 
that she ought to have done, she could have induced 
him to leave France with her, he had sufficient 
money to enable them to live comfortably abroad, 
and his life would have been saved. 

However, she refused to leave Belle Chasse, 
influenced by affection for her pupils, jealous of 
any one who might succeed her with them, fear of 
losing the prestige of having educated them, as she 
says ; and, of course, of being separated from the 
Due d'Orleans, which she does not say. At any 
rate she took her own way, and after a journey to 
England where she was extremely well received, she 
resumed her usual occupations. The Revolution 
was drawing nearer and nearer, though people did 
not realise its approach. A few more far-seeing 
persons foretold troubles and dangers in the future, 
but nobody except the well-known Cazotte, had any 
notion of the fearful tempest about to break over the 
unhappy kingdom of France. 

Meanwhile, many who would have shrunk from 



MADAME DE GENUS 413 

the crimes and horrors for which in their folly they 
were preparing the way as fast as possible, went on 
playing with fire, by encouraging the disloyalty that 
was in the air, sympathising with the outrageous 
demands put forward by the Radical leaders, circula- 
ting libels and inventing lying stories against the 
Queen and royal family, joining noisily in the abuse 
of everything that had hitherto been held sacred or 
respectable, and doing everything in their power to 
inflame the evil passions and excite the cupidity 
and violence of the mob. 

One cannot help feeling intense satisfaction in 
reflecting that most of those who did all this mis- 
chief, at any rate, suffered for it, when the danger, 
ruin, and death they had prepared for others came 
upon themselves. One of the most abominable of 
the revolutionists, who had fallen under the dis- 
pleasure of his friends and been condemned by 
them to be guillotined with his young son, begged 
to be allowed to embrace him on the scaffold ; but 
the boy sullenly refused, saying, " No ; it is you who 
have brought me to this." 

Among the Palais Royal set, it was the fashion to 
find fault with everything done by the royalists, to 
go as seldom as possible to Versailles and to pre- 
tend to find it a great bore when it was necessary to 
do so. 

If a play was popular at Versailles it was sure to 
be hissed at Paris ; a disgraced minister was the idol 
of the mob ; the only liveries not insulted were 
those of Orleans. 

For the Due d'Orl^ans was aiming at the crown, 
and it is impossible to believe Mme. de Genlis was 



414 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

not aware of it. He suggested to the Queen that 
Madame Royale should be married to his eldest son, 
which proposal Marie Antoinette decidedly refused, 
remarking afterwards that to marry her daughter to 
the Due de Chartres would be to sign the death 
warrant of her son.i 

Mme. de Genlis states that one evening while the 
States-General were sitting, the Due d'Orleans, who 
was in her salon, declared that they would be of no 
use and do nothing ; not even suppress the lettres 
de cachet. Mme. de Genlis and the Due de Lauzun 
were of a different opinion, and they bet each other 
fifty louis on the subject. The bet was put into 
writing and Mme. de Genlis showed it to more than 
fifty people of her acquaintance, all of whom 
declared a Revolution to be impossible. The Abbe 
Cesutti, one of the free-thinking school, was editor 
of a paper called La feiiille villageoise, intended for 
the people. He asked Mme. de Genlis to write for 
it, and she sent some papers called " The Letters of 
Marie-Anne," in which she introduced doctrines 
and principles of religion. Soon after the Abbe 
came and asked her in future only to speak of 
morality and never to mention religion. Knowing 
what that meant she declined to write any more for 
that paper. 

However, she was so far identified with the 
Revolutionary party as not only to rejoice at the 
infamous attack of the mob upon the Bastille, but 
to consent to her pupils' request to take them to 

' It does not, however, appear why this should have been the 
consequence of the marriage, for Madame Royale would not have 
succeeded to the throne in any case. 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 415 

Paris to see the mob finishing the destruction of 
that beautiful and historic monument. 

In the " Souvenirs," written in after years, when 
her ideas and principles had been totally changed by 
her experience of the Revolution, the beginning of 
which had so delighted her, she was evidently 
ashamed of the line she had taken, and anxious to 
explain it away as far as possible. 

" I was of no party," she writes, " but that of 
religion. I desired the reform of certain abuses, 
and I saw with joy the demolition of the Bastille, 
the abolition of letires de cachet, and droits de chasse. 
That was all I wanted, my politics did not go 
farther than that. At the same time no one saw 
with more grief and horror than I, the excesses 
committed from the first moments of the taking of 
the Bastille. . . . The desire to let my pupils see 
everything led me on this occasion into imprudence, 
and caused me to spend some hours in Paris to see 
from the Jardin de Beaumarchais the people of 
Paris demolishing the Bastille. I also had a 
curiosity to see the Cordeliers Club. ... I went 
there and I saw the orators, cobblers, and porters 
with their wives and mistresses, mounting the 
tribune and shouting against nobles, priests, 
and rich people. ... I remarked a fishwoman 
. . ." This pretty spectacle to which she was said 
to have taken her pupils, was, of course, approved 
of by the Duke of Orleans, who made the Due de 
Chartres a member of the Jacobin Club, " by the 
wish of the Due d'Orl^ans, assuredly not by mine ; 
but, however, it must be remembered that that 
society was not then what it afterward became, 



4i6 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

although its sentiments were already very exagge- 
rated. However, it was a pretext employed to 
estrange the Duchess of Orleans from me." 

And small wonder ! Was the Duchess of Orleans 
— a woman of saintly character and the great grand- 
daughter ^ of Louis XIV. — to tolerate the governess 
of her children being seen in a den of blasphemy 
and low, unspeakable vice and degradation like the 
Cordeliers Club, or their being themselves shown 
with rejoicing a scene of horror and murder, and 
join in the triumph of rufBans who were attacking 
their religion, and the King and Queen, who were 
also their own cousins ? Was it possible that any- 
body in their senses would tolerate such a gover- 
ness ? Added to which the Duchess was now 
aware of the terms on which Mme. de Genlis and 
the Duke stood to each other. It could no longer 
be said of her — 

" The Duchess sees nothing, or will not see any- 
thing, but even shows a strange predilection for 
Mme. de Genlis, which made Mme. de Barbantane 
say that it is a love ^ which would make one believe 
in witchcraft. 

The Due de Penthi^vre, who knew his son-in- 
law and distrusted Mme. de Genlis, foresaw what 
would happen and opposed her entrance into the 
Palais Royal ; but the influence of Mme. de 
Montesson had prevailed, and she was soon not 
only all-powerful herself, but had placed the 
different members of her family in lucrative posts 

' Her father, the Due de Penthievre, was the son of the Comte 
de Toulouse, illegitimate son of Louis XIV. by Mme. de Montespan. 
- Talleyrand, " Memoires," t. i, p. 164. 



MADAME DE GENUS 417 

there. And, though they did not follow their party 
to the extreme excesses to which they were already 
tending, they were, so far, all tarred with the same 
brush. 

In the " Memoirs of Louis XVIII," he remarks, 
after the dismissal of Necker : " A report was 
spread that the Queen and the Comte d'Artois had 
given orders for a general massacre, to include the 
Duke of Orleans, M. Necker, and most of the 
members of the National Assembly. Sillery, 
Latouche, Laclos, Voidel, Ducrest,i Camille 
Desmoulin, and all those who came from the Due 
d'Orleans, were the first to spread these lies." 2 

After her proceedings at the Bastille and the 
Cordeliers, and considering her connection with 
the revolutionary party, Mme. de Genlis (or Sillery, 
as she was also called) need not have expressed the 
surprise and indignation she did at the arrival of a 
body of police to search her house for arms, 
reported to be stored there. They were sent by 
La Fayette, who had done even more mischief than 
she had ; but for some reason they did not like 
each other. The touchy, conceited Republican poet, 
Marie Joseph Chenier, who ranted against religion, 
royalty, and everything and everybody superior to 
himself, began to make love to Mme. de Genlis, 
and when she objected to his impertinent 
familiarity, said furiously : " You are right ; I am 

' M. Ducrest, however, resigned all his appointments at the Palais 
Royal when he realised the excesses into which Philippe-Egalite 
was proceeding, gave up his appointment of Chancellor to the 
House of Orleans, left France before the worst time had come, 
and went to America. 

= " Memoires de Louis XVIII," t. 4, p. 231. 

28 



4t8 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

neither a grand seigneur nor a duke 1 " — which 
specimen of the manners of her party disgusted 
her extremely. In her "Memoires" she relates of 
this worthy that he was accused of having 
participated in the condemnation of his brother 
Andre, also a poet, executed under the Terror. 
This was, however, almost certainly untrue, but it 
was said that he could have saved him if he had 
made use of the influence he possessed with the 
Terrorists, but that he either feared or did not care 
to do so. The celebrated actress, Mile. Dumesnil, 
then old and infirm, received one day a visit from 
him, during which he tormented her to recite some- 
thing for him. She was ill in bed, but nevertheless 
he went on begging that she would recite only one 
line that he might say he had heard her, when, 
turning towards him with a violent effort 
she said — 

" Approchez-votis, Neron, et prenez voire place ! " 
The first personal encounter of Mme. de Genlis 
with the Revolution was one afternoon in 1790. She 
had driven with Mademoiselle d'Orleans, the Comte 
de Beaujolais, Henriette de Sercey, and Pamela, to a 
village about twelve miles from Paris, where, 
unluckily, a fair was going on and a great many 
people collected together. They took it into their 
heads that the party were the Queen, Madame 
Royale, and the Dauphin trying to escape, and, 
surrounding them with anger, forced them to get 
out of the carriage and refused to believe their 
explanations. 

A young lieutenant of the Garde-Nationale hurried 
up, harangued them, and with difficulty persuaded 



MADAME DE GENLIS 4^9 

the savage crowd to allow him to take them into 
his own house, around which a drunken, furious 
crowd kept guard while cries of " A la lanterne ! " 
were every now and then heard. They would not 
believe anything they said ; they threatened to hang 
any one who should go to Paris to make inquiries ; 
they forced their way into the house and garden, 
but suddenly a friendly voice said in the ear of 
Mme. de Genlis : " I was a gamekeeper at Sillery ; 
don't be afraid. I will go to Paris." At last the 
crowd of ruffians dispersed, leaving a dozen to 
guard their prisoners ; the mayor of the village 
gravely demanded that all her papers should be 
delivered to him, upon which Mme. de Genlis gave 
him four or five letters, and when she begged him 
to read them he replied that he could not read, but 
took them away. 

At five o'clock in the morning the gamekeeper 
came back from Paris with an order of release 
from the municipality, and at half-past six they 
arrived at Belle Chasse. 

This foretaste of the Revolution Mme. de Genlis 
did not like at all, and she began to think she would 
rather not be in France now that the plans and 
friends so lately her admiration were succeeding so 
well. 

Just then her mother died after a short illness, 
which was a great shock to her ; she had lived with 
or near her for many years since the death of her 
second husband, and had been the object of her 
devoted care. 

But now at last an end had come to the 
Palais Royal life of prosperity and power. 



420 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

The patience of the Duchess of Orleans, which 
had for many years been so extraordinary, and her 
bhndness, which had been the wonder of every- 
body, had for more than a year been worn out, 
and now had come to a decided conclusion. 

There is such a thing as being too angeHc, and 
gentle, and unsuspicious. If those who have to 
live in the world go about acting as if other 
people were angels instead of men and women, 
believing all they are told, trusting every one, and 
knowing as little as they can of what is going on 
around them, no good ever comes of it. 

How the Duchess could ever consent to and 
approve of her children being entirely given up to 
the care of a woman whose principles were 
absolutely opposed to her own, is astonishing 
indeed ; and perhaps it is still more so that for 
many years she did notice the infatuation of her 
husband, and the vast influence Mme. de Genlis 
had over him. But her eyes had at last been 
opened, Mme. de Genlis declares, by a Mme. de 
Chastellux, who was her enemy, and was jealous of 
her. However that might be with regard to the 
connection between Mme. de Genlis and the Due 
d'Orleans, no enlightenment was necessary about 
the Bastille, the Cordeliers Club, and other 
revolutionary proceedings. That was surely quite 
enough ; besides which the Duchess had long been 
awakened to the fact that the governess about whom 
she had been so infatuated had not only carried on 
an intrigue with and established an all-powerful 
influence over her husband, but had extended that 
influence also over her children to such an extent 



MADAME DE GENUS 421 

that her daughter at any rate, if not her two elder 
sons, probably preferred her to their mother. 

As to the Comte de Beaujolais, he was fond of 
her, as all her pupils were, for she was extremely 
kind to them, but he hated and abhorred the 
principles which his father and she had succeeded 
in instilling into his brothers and sister, longed to 
fight for the King and Queen, and took the first 
opportunity when he met the Comte de Provence 
in exile to tell him so and make his submission ; he 
had sent him messages of explanation and loyalty 
directly he could. For more than a year, then, 
there had been coldness and estrangement between 
the Duchess and Mme. de Genlis, who, of course, 
as usual, posed as an injured saint. What had she 
done ? Why this cruel change in the affection and 
confidence of years ? Had she not sacrificed her- 
self to her pupils ? Was she not the last person to 
alienate their affection from their illustrious and 
admirable mother ? Did not all the virtues of her 
whole life forbid her being suspected or distrusted 
in any way ? 

She wrote pages and pages to the Duchess, who 
would not answer the letters except by a few short 
lines, and refused to enter into the matter at all, but 
decHned to receive Mme. de Genlis at the Palais 
Royal to dine as usual. Here is an example of 
what the Duchesse d'Abrantes and others have said 
about Mme. de Genlis having nothing of the dignity 
that she might have been expected to possess. 
Her behaviour contrasts strongly with that of the 
Duchesse d'Orleans, who, however foolish and 
credulous she may have been, showed at any rate 



422 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

that she was a Princess of France. It was not for 
her to discuss or dispute with Mme. de Genlis about 
her influence with her husband and children ; it 
was for her to give orders and for the governess of 
her children to obey them. But these late pro- 
ceedings were different and tangible, and Mme. de 
Genlis herself owns in her " Memoires," written 
long after, that the objections of the Duchess, 
which she then thought so exaggerated and unjust, 
were right and well-founded. She declares that she 
had no idea how far the Revolution would go, 
that she was strongly attached to the Monarchy and 
to religion, which latter was certainly true^ and 
there is no reason to suppose she contemplated a 
Republic, while the horrors that took place were 
odious to her. 

But that she should have been and still be 
accused, especially with regard to the Duke of 
Orleans, she had no right to complain. After all, 
those who wish to play the world's game must play 
by the world's rules. Certain ways of acting always 
cause certain conclusions to be drawn, and what 
else was likely between a man like Philippe-Egalite 
and a fascinating woman he admired, and with 
whom he was thrown into constant and intimate 
association, but the liaison every one might expect, 
and which it is impossible not to believe in. 

She declared that she would have resigned before 
had it not been for the calumnies, injustice, and 
persecution (!) carried on against the Due d'Orleans ; 
she hoped his return would dispel the clouds ; she 
pictured the grief her pupils would feel, &c., &c. 

The Duke was at his wits' end, there were 



MADAME DE GENUS 423 

scenes and interviews and negotiations without 
end, but he and Mme. de Genlis were forced to 
give way. 

The Duchess threatened a separation, the 
position was impossible ; Mme. de Genlis withdrew, 
at any rate for a time, intending to go to England. 
But Mademoiselle d'Orleans, who was then thirteen, 
and devoted to her governess, when she found she 
was gone, cried and fretted till she became so ill 
that every one was alarmed ; she was sent for to 
come back again, and did so on condition that they 
should go to England together as soon as it could 
be arranged. 

She was herself most anxious to get out of 
France, but in spite of her representations the 
journey kept being put olif on various excuses until 
the autumn, when one day M. de Valence, who had 
also a post in the Palais Royal, told her that the 
Duke was going to England that night, which he 
did, leaving her a note saying he would be back in 
a month. 

However, he stayed a year, much to the surprise 
of Mme. de Genlis, in the first place that he should 
have kept her in ignorance of his plans, and in the 
second that he should break his promise to her. 
His flight had also the result of preventing their 
journey, for it had irritated the mob, who were 
now, under their brutal and ferocious leaders, the 
rulers of France, and they watched with suspicion 
all the rest of the Orleans family ; it would not 
have been safe for them to attempt to travel. Such 
was the freedom already achieved by the efforts of 
their father and his friends. 



424 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

It was naturally impossible that Mme. de Genlis 
should be a conspicuous member of the Orleans 
household and yet not mix herself up with 
intimacies and friendships amongst the Revo- 
lutionists, especially as some of them at that time 
had not shown themselves in their true colours. 
She corresponded with Bareze, who wrote to her 
about her books, and whose letters were full of the 
simple life of the peasants and the beauties of 
nature in the Pyrenees, but who soon developed 
into one of the monsters of the Terror. She could 
not be blamed for that, as she did not know 
his real character ; but the same cannot be said 
with regard to her friendship with Potion, whom 
she received in her salon and for whom she 
declared that up to the time of the King's murder 
she had " a true esteem." Now Potion was a 
vulgar, brutal ruffian, as any one knows who has 
read the account of his behaviour during the 
miserable affair of the return of the royal family 
from Varennes ; and yet after that she accepted his 
escort to England, and said that she " remained 
persuaded that he had a most honest, upright soul, 
and the most virtuous principles." There are some 
people who make the very names of virtue and 
duty obnoxious to one, and of this number was 
certainly Mme. de Genlis. In spite of her outcries 
about the injustice and falsehood of the suspicions 
and odium attached to her concerning her conduct 
at this time, and causing her afterwards consider- 
able annoyance and difficulties, her friendships 
with and praises of such characters as Philippe- 
Egalit6, Potion, and others, added to the way in 



MADAME DE GENUS 425 

which she displayed her rejoicing in the earlier 
excesses of the Revolutionary party, and her con- 
stant association with the authors of the disgraceful 
libels and attacks upon the Queen and royal family, 
amply justified whatever might be said against her. 

There can be no doubt that, as always happens in 

these cases, a great deal was said that was neither 

true nor possible. It was inevitable that it should 

be so ; but her way of going on, both politically 

. and in other ways, was decidedly suspicious. 

At length the Duke of Orleans came back, and in 
consequence of the persuasions of Mme. de Genlis 
he arranged that his daughter should be ordered by 
the doctors to take the waters at Bath, and they set off; 
Mademoiselle d'Orleans, Mme. de Genlis, Pamela, 
and Henriette de Sercery, with their attendants, 
furnished with a passport permitting them to stay 
in England as long as the health of Mademoiselle 
d'Orleans required. They started October 11, 1791, 
slept at Calais, and remained a few days in London 
in the house the Due d'Orleans had bought there ; 
they went to Bath, where they stayed for two 
months. 

They next made a tour about England, including 
Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, Derbyshire, Cam- 
bridge, several visits to different country houses, and 
to the Ladies of Llangollen. 



CHAPTER VII 

In England — Sheridan — Strange adventure — Raincy — Farewell to 
Philippe-Egalite— Proscribed — Tournay — Pamela — Death of 
the King. 

WHILE Mme. de Genliswas safe and enjoying 
herself in England terrible events were 
happening in France. The Duke of Orleans, already 
infamous in the eyes of all decent people, was be- 
ginning to lose his popularity with the revolutionists. 
" He I could not doubt the discredit into which he 
had fallen, the flight of his son ^ exposed him to 
dangerous suspicions ; it was decided to get rid of 
him. He had demanded that his explanations 
should be admitted, but he was advised to ' ask 
rather, in the interest of your own safety, for a decree 
of banishment for yourself and your family.' 

" I have said before, I think, that the Comte de 
Beaujolais did not share the opinions of his family, 
and I have pleasure in quoting a paragraph on this 
subject written by Marie Antoinette in a letter to her 
sister the Archduchess Christine, governess of the 
Low Countries. 

" ' The young Comte de Beaujolais, in the inno- 

' " Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. v. p. 326. 
= The Due de Chartres. 
426 



MADAME DE GENUS 427 

cence of his soul, has always remained a Bourbon, 
and this amiable boy feels a tender sympathy for my 
misfortunes. The other day he sent me in secret a 
person named Alexandre, a valet de chambre of good 
education. This worthy man, whose open expression 
impressed me in his favour, knelt down when he came 
near me, wiped away some tears and gave me a letter 
from the young prince, in which I found the most 
touching words and the purest sentiments. The 
good Alexandre begged me to keep this a profound 
secret, and told me that the Comte de Beaujolais 
often talked of escaping from his father and dying 
in arms for the defence of his King. 

" ' How I regret that the death of this young prince 
deprived me of the happiness of opening the gates 
of France to him and rewarding his noble senti- 
ments.' " I 

The Due de Chartres now also looked with dis- 
approval upon his father's conduct. In his 
" Memoire's " Louis XVIII. quotes a letter of 
M. de Boissy, who says that the only republican 
amongst the sons of Egalit6 was the Due de Mont- 
pensier.2 

The latter part of the sojourn of Mme. de Genlis 
in England was overshadowed by anxieties, annoy- 
ances, and fears. 

Like all other nations, the English were horror- 
stricken at the crimes and cruelties going on in 
France, and exasperated against their perpetrators, 
more especially against the Duke of Orleans, who 
was regarded with universal hatred and contempt. 

* " Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. v. p. 327-8. 
= Ibid., t. V. p. 287. 



428 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

The general indignation was extended to all who 
had, or were believed to have, any complicity in the 
horrors committed, or any connection with the 
miscreants who were guilty of them ; and now 
Mme. de Genlis began to feel the consequences of 
the line of conduct she had chosen to adopt. 

Anonymous letters filled with abuse and threats 
poured in upon her ; she was told the house would 
be set on fire in the night, she heard her name cried 
in the streets, and on sending out for the newspaper 
being sold, she saw a long story about herself and 
M. de Calonne, giving the history of an interview 
they had at Paris the preceding evening ! She sent 
it to Sheridan, who was a friend of hers, begging 
him to write to the paper saying that she did not 
know Calonne, and had not been at Paris for many 
months, which he did. 

Of course she thought all these denunciations 
most unjust and astonishing. Why, she asked, 
should they call her a " savage fury," and abuse her 
in this way ? 

" I never carried on a single intrigue. I loved 
the Monarchy, and I spared no efforts to soften and 
moderate M. le Due d'Orl^ans," not realising that 
the way to escape suspicion was not to try to soften, 
but to have nothing to do with him ; and that if 
she loved the Monarchy she had shown her affection 
in a very strange manner. But she was a strange 
mixture of great talents and many good qualities with 
frivolity, inconsistency, and shallowness. For ex- 
ample, when she was told that the Monarchy (which 
she says she loved) had fallen, and the Republic 
been declared, her first exclamation was — 



MADAME DE GENUS 429 

"Eh ! What ! Then Athalie will never be played 
any more ; that masterpiece will be lost to the French 
stage ! " 

Seeing in the French papers that a party, with 
sinister intentions, were agitating for the trial of the 
King and Queen, Mme. de Genlis wrote a letter of 
six pages to Petion remonstrating, advising, and 
quoting the ancient Romans who did not murder 
the Tarquins but only banished them. The letter 
was published, but of course did no good, but drew 
upon her the hatred of the Terrorists. 

The King and Queen were doomed. Even so 
late as between the 20th of June and the loth of 
August, there was a last chance of escape, a plot for 
their flight, each one separately. They might, or 
some of them might, have escaped. One cannot help 
fancying that the children at any rate might have 
been saved ; they could not have been so well known 
and might so well have been disguised. This was 
spoilt by the Queen, who refused to be separated 
from the Dauphin. After that there was no 
hope. 

Just after the September massacres Mme. de 
Genlis received a letter from the Due d'Orleans 
desiring her to bring his daughter back to France 
at once, to which she replied that she should do 
nothing of the sort, and that it would be absurd to 
choose such a time for entering France. 

She heard there was a plot to carry off Made- 
moiselle d'Orleans, which made her uneasy, and 
several other things happened which rather alarmed 
her. 

Early in November the Due d'Orleans sent 



430 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

M. Maret with a summons to Mme. de Genlis either 
to bring Mademoiselle back to France or to give 
her into his care as her escort. Mme. de Genlis, 
not liking to desert the young girl, though most 
unwilling to return to France, agreed to accompany 
her, and before they left, Sheridan, who had fallen 
violently in love with Pamela, proposed to her and 
was accepted. It was settled that they should be 
married in a fortnight, when Mme. de Genlis expected 
to be back in England. 

It was not a marriage that promised much happi- 
ness. Sheridan was forty-six and a confirmed spend- 
thrift. He was a widower, and the extraordinary 
likeness of Pamela to his first wife had struck him. 
Not that his first marriage had been altogether suc- 
cessful, for his wife had, after a time, had a liaison 
with Lord Edward Fitzgerald. 

They started at ten in the morning in two carriages, 
the first with six horses, the second, which contained 
the servants, with four. They had only two men, 
one French servant of their own, the other hired for 
the occasion, as they had sent four back to Paris. 
Their servant, Darnal, observed after a time that 
they were not going along the Dover road, by which 
he had been before, and pointed this out to Mme. 
de Genlis, who spoke to the postillions. They made 
some excuse, assuring her that they would get back 
on to the road, but they did nothing of the kind but 
went on at a rapid pace, saying they would soon be 
at a village called Dartford, which for a time re- 
assured Mme. de Genlis. However, they did not 
arrive at Dartford, and presently two well-dressed men 
passed on foot and called out in distinct French — 



MADAME DE GENUS ' 43 1 

" Mesdaines, you are being deceived, they are not 
taking you to Dover." 

It was difficult to make the postillions stop, but 
after a time Darnal forced them to do so, assisted 
by the cries of the terrified travellers who were then 
passing through a village. The strange servant did 
nothing. They got out, and on asking how far they 
were from Dartford they were told twenty-two miles. 

Mme. de Genlis hired a man from the village to 
go with them, and with his help and that of Darnal 
forced the postillions, who were very insolent, to 
return to London. 

Sheridan took the matter up, the postillions were 
examined, but all they said was that a strange 
gentleman had taken them to a public-house and 
bribed them to take the road they had followed. 
The hired servant had disappeared. Not wishing to 
spend the time or money necessary to bring this 
mysterious affair into a law court, they did nothing 
more about it, and never understood why it had 
happened, or what was intended, or anything 
concerning it. 

They stayed a month with Sheridan at Isleworth, 
and then he saw them off at Dover, and they landed 
safely in France. Immense crowds assembled to 
greet Mademoiselle d'Orleans, but at Chantilly they 
were met by a messenger of the Duke, who gave 
Mme. de Genlis a note saying — 

" If you have not crossed yet, stay in England 
till fresh orders ; if my courrier meets you on the 
road in France wait wherever you are and do not 
come to Paris. A second courrier will instruct you 
what to do." 



432 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Paying no attention to this order, Mme. de Genlis 
continued her journey to Belle Chasse, where she 
found her husband, the Duke, and five or six 
others. 

An air of gloom was over them all. Mademoiselle 
d'Orleans was crying bitterly. Mme. de Genlis, as 
she restored her to her father's care, in the presence 
of the rest, told him that she resigned her post of 
governess, and should start for England the next 
morning. 

The Duke with an air of consternation asked her 
to come into another room alone with him, and 
there with much embarrassment told her that his 
daughter, who was now fifteen, was by a new law 
placed in the list of emigrees for not having returned 
at the time appointed ; that it was her fault for not 
bringing her back when he first sent for her ; that 
he was sure to be able to make it all right by getting 
her placed in a list of exceptions to be made, but 
that meantime she must go and wait in some neutral 
country ; that he implored Mme. de Genlis to take 
her to Tournay ; that the decree of exception would 
certainly be out in a week, and then he would come 
himself and fetch his daughter, and she (Mme. de 
Genlis) should be free. 

She replied that she would go to Tournay on con- 
dition that if the decree was not out in a fortnight, 
the Duke would send some one else to take her 
place with his daughter, which he promised to do. 

M. de Sillery (Comte de Genlis) proposed that 
they should go to his box at the theatre to cheer 
their spirits. Among the audience was Lord Edward 
Fitzgerald, who, on seeing Pamela, was struck, as 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 433 

Sheridan had been, with her extraordinary Hkeness 
to Mrs. Sheridan, and Hke him, fell in love with 
her, and got a friend to present him in their box. 

The next morning they went to Raincy, where 
the Duke and M. de Sillery spent the whole of the 
day with them. The infatuation between the Duke 
and Mme. de Genlis seems to have been at an end, 
if we may trust her account of that last day. 

" He seemed," she says, " distrait, gloomy, and 
preoccupied, with a strange expression which had 
something sinister in his face ; he walked up and 
down from one room to another, as if he dreaded 
conversation or questions. The day was fine. I 
sent Mademoiselle, my niece, and Pamela into the 
garden ; M. de Sillery followed : I found myself 
alone with M. le Due d'Orleans. Then I said some- 
thing about bis situation, he hastily interrupted me 
and said brusquely that he had pledged himself to the 
Jacobins. I replied that after all that had happened 
it was a crime and a folly ; that he would be their 
victim. ... I advised him to emigrate with his 
family to America. The Duke smiled disdainfully 
and answered as he had often done before, that I 
was well worth being consulted and listened to 
when it was a question of historical or literary 
matters, but that I knew nothing about politics. . . . 
The conversation became heated, then angry, and 
suddenly he left me. In the evening I had a long 
interview with M. de Sillery. I entreated him with 
tears to leave France ; it would have been easy 
for him to get away and to take with him at least 
a hundred thousand francs. He listened with 
emotion ; told me he abhorred all the excesses of 

29 



434 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

the Revolution, but that I took too gloomy a view 
of the outlook. Robespierre and his party were too 
mediocre to keep their ascendancy long ; all the 
talent and capacity was among the moderates, who 
would soon re-establish order and morality (they 
were all put to death soon afterwards) ; and that he 
considered it criminal for an honest man to leave 
France at this moment, as he thereby deprived his 
country of one more voice for reason and humanity. 
I insisted, but in vain. He spoke of the Duke of 
Orleans, saying that in his opinion he was lost, 
because he was placing all his hopes in the Jacobins, 
who delighted in degrading him in order to destroy 
him more easily. . . ." 

" We started the next morning ; M. le Due 
gave me his arm to the carriage ; I was much 
agitated. Mademoiselle burst into tears, her father 
was pale and trembling. When I was in the 
carriage he stood in silence by the door with his 
eyes fixed upon me ; his gloomy, sorrowful look 
seeming to implore pity. 

"'Adieu, Madame/' he said; and the changed 
tone of his voice so increased my agitation that I 
could not speak. I held out my hand which he 
took and pressed tightly in his ; then, turning 
hastily to the postillions he signed to them, and we 
started." 

M. de Sillery, M. Ducrest, and the Due de 
Chartres went with them to the frontier of Belgium ; 
and they arrived safely at Tournay, where they 
were followed by Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who 
was eager to marry Pamela. And now, as before, 
he was the successful rival of Sheridan, whom 



MADAME DE GENUS 435 

she threw over for his sake. They were married 
at Tournay and departed to England, where she was 
received with great kindness by his family. 

Weeks passed away and still no one came from 
the Due d'Orleans ; Mme. de Genlis wrote several 
times, and he always begged her to wait a few days 
longer. 

The Due de Chartres came and joined them at 
Tournay, where Mademoiselle d'Orleans was taken 
dangerously ill with a bilious fever. She recovered 
slowly, but in January, 1793, letters from France 
brought the news of the execution of Louis XVI., 
of the infamous part played by Philippe-Egalite, 
and of the imminent danger of M. de Sillery. 

The Due de Chartres was horror-stricken at the 
crime, at his father's share in it, and at the 
hypocritical letter in which he excused his base- 
ness, speaking of his lacerated heart, his sacrifice to 
liberty, and the welfare of France, &c. 

Very different was the letter of M. de Sillery. 
He, at any rate, if he had been wrong and mis- 
taken, was ready and willing to pay the penalty. 

He sent a number of the printed copies of his 
" opinion on the King's trial," desiring that 
some might be forwarded to England. It was as 
follows : 

" I do not vote for his death ; first, because he 
does not deserve it ; secondly, because we have no 
right to judge him ; thirdly, because I look upon 
his condemnation as the greatest pohtical fault 
that could be committed." He ended his letter 
by saying that he knew quite well that he had 
signed his own death-warrant, and, beside himself 



436 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

with horror and indignation, he actually went to 
the Abbaye and gave himself up as a prisoner. 
It was the act of a madman, for he might very 
likely have escaped, and his wife consoled herself 
with the idea that as there was nothing against 
him he would only suffer a short imprisonment. 

Though several members had voted against 
the murder of the King, he was the only one 
who had had the courage of his opinions. 
Condorcet gave as a reason that he disapproved 
of all capital punishment, the rest made different 
excuses. 

Mme. de Valence, daughter of Mme. de Genlis 
came to them at Tournay, but very soon had 
to hurry back to France as the Austrian army was 
coming up. 

Like Mme. Le Brun, Mme. de Genlis had no 
reason to fear poverty in exile, her writings would 
always be sufficient to provide for her ; but she 
was just then short of money ; and, unfortunately, 
in her haste, though she had brought with her a 
good many of her valuable possessions from Belle 
Chasse, she had left a great deal that she might 
have taken. Mme. de Valence went to Belle 
Chasse and saved her piano, some pictures, and 
various other things which her mother gave to her, 
the rest were mostly confiscated. 

It was very difficult just then to get money 
from France, and she had even to advance some 
for Mademoiselle d'Orl^ans. Remembering what 
had happened to La Fayette, she was very much 
afraid of falling into the hands of the Austrians ; 
on the other hand she could not go into France 



MADAME DE GENUS 437 

without a permission, which she was silly 
enough to ask for, but luckily for herself, could 
not get. 

The Due de Chartres wrote to his father saying 
that he never wished to return to France, and 
wanted to get leave from the Convention to 
expatriate himself, but the Duke replied that there 
was no sense in it, and forbade him to write. 

The Due de Montpensier came to Tournay 
to see his brother and sister and then left for 
Nice. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Flight and danger — Mons — Zurich — Zug — The Convent of Brem- 
garten — Death of M, de Sillery — Of Egalite — Mademoiselle 
d'Oi'leans and the Princesse de Conti. 

OBLIGED to leave Tournay, they took refuge 
at a small town called Saint Amand, but they 
soon found themselves forced to fly from that also, 
and Mme. de Gen lis, alarmed at the dangers and 
privations evidently before them, began to think 
that Mademoiselle d'Orleans would be safer without 
her, in the care of her brother. 

The camp of Dumouriez lay close at hand, and 
he had been very good to them ; but there would 
probably be fighting very shortly, and it was said 
that he and many of his officers had been proscribed 
by the Convention. It would, she thought, be safer 
for Mademoiselle d'Orleans to go and give herself 
up at Valenciennes, when she would most likely 
only be exiled, if that ; than to be taken with Mme. 
de Genlis, as they would then be sent prisoners to 
Valenciennes and to the scaffold. And it was a 
great chance if they could pass the French posts. 

However, the tears of Mademoiselle d'Orleans and 

the entreaties of her brother prevailed ; and at the 

438 



MADAME DE GENLIS 439 

last moment she got into the carriage leaving all her 
luggage behind except her watch and harp. Mme. 
de Genlis, however, had got hers so could supply 
her, for they could not wait to pack. 

In the carriage were Mademoiselle d'Orleans, Mme. 
de Genlis, her niece, and M. de Montjoye, a young 
officer who had escaped from France, and was 
very sensibly going to live in Switzerland, where 
he had relations. He spoke German very well, 
and it was agreed that he should say the others 
were English ladies he was escorting to Ostende. 

They went by lanes and cross-roads which 
were so bad that the carriage broke down, and 
they had to wait for an hour and a half in a 
tavern full of volunteers, who cast sinister glances 
at them, asked many questions, but finally allowed 
them to go on. It was very cold, night was 
approaching, the roads got worse and worse, 
and at last they had to get out and walk. 

After going about three miles they were suddenly 
arrested by a captain of volunteers whose attention 
had been attracted by the lantern carried by their 
guide. 

Dissatisfied with their answers, he said he sus- 
pected them of being emigres and should take them 
to Valenciennes. Mme. de Genlis thought they 
were lost, but with admirable presence of mind, 
she put her arm within his and walked briskly by 
his side, chaffing him in an almost unintelligible 
jargon about his want of politeness, laughing, and 
appearing quite fearless and indifferent. 

Presently he stopped; said it was evident that 
she was an Englishwoman, that he did not wish 



440 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

to cause them any further inconvenience ; they 
could continue their journey, but he advised them 
to put out the lantern as it might be dangerous. 
He showed them a bye way by which they could 
reach the Austrian outposts without meeting any 
more French troops. 

As she left Belgium, Mme. Genlis who, with 
her faults had also many good qualities, began, she 
says, to reflect upon the horror of her position. 

" I saw for myself personally a future darker 
than it proved to be ; I felt that party spirit and 
the misfortune of having been attached to the 
house of Orleans would expose me to all kinds 
of calumnies and persecutions ; I resigned myself 
in submission to Providence, for I knew that I 
deserved it, because if I had kept my promise to 
my friend, Mme. de Custine, if I had done my 
duty and remained with my second mother, Mme. 
de Puisieux, instead of entering the Palais Royal, 
or if, at the death of the Marechale d'Etree, I had 
left Belle Chasse as my husband wished, no emigree 
could have been more peaceful and happy than I in 
foreign countries ; with the general popularity of 
my books, my literary reputation, and the social 
talents I possessed." 

The commandant. Baron Vounianski, received 
them with great kindness, and suddenly as she 
raised her veil, exclaimed " Ah, Princess 1 " At first 
she feared he recognised Mademoiselle d'Orleans, 
but soon found out that an extraordinary likeness 
to a Moravian, Princess von Lansberg, made him 
suppose her to be that person, and no denial on her 
part altered his conviction. He gave them a supper 



MADAME DE GENLIS 441 

a la Hongroise enough for twenty people, and 
while it was going on talked of public affairs with 
violent expressions of hatred and curses against 
the Duke of Orleans. Mademoiselle d'Orleans 
grew paler and paler, and Mme. de Genlis was 
in terror lest she should faint or in any way betray 
herself, but she did not. 

The next morning the Baron himself brought up 
the tray with their breakfast, still declaring Mme. 
de Genlis was the Princess, and among the escort 
he gave them to Mons were two young cadets from 
Moravia, who had been pages to the Princess, by 
whom they had been specially recommended to 
the Baron. They both kissed her hand, and recog- 
nised her as Princess von Lansberg. 

Mons was full of soldiers, they could only get 
bad rooms in the inn, and in the night Mademoiselle 
d'Orleans, who slept in Mme. de Genlis' s room, did 
nothing but cough and moan. Going into the 
adjoining room to tell her niece, Mme. de Genlis 
found her in the same state ; the girls had both got 
measles. 

Here was a terrible position. They had no maid, 
the manservant was a new one, the servants of the 
inn could do nothing to help as the inn was 
crowded ; they could not get a doctor till the 
evening, or a nurse for four days. Mme. de Genlis, 
however, understood perfectly well how to treat 
them, and nursed them till they recovered. 

One day, as she was going to fetch the medicine 
from the doctor, who luckily lived close by, she 
met upon the stairs the Prince de Lambese. 
Recognising her at once, he looked at her with 



442 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

an indignant, contemptuous expression, passed on 
without speaking and went to the Governor, Baron 
von Mack, to denounce her, guessing also that the 
daughter of Philippe-Egalite was with her. 

The Prince de Lambese had every reason to 
abhor Mme. de GenHs. He belonged to the house 
of Lorraine, was related to Marie Antoinette, and 
devoted to her. It was he, who, in July, 1789, at 
the head of the Royal Allemand Regiment, cleared 
the mob out of the place Louis XV., and galloped 
with his troops into the Tuileries Gardens. He 
emigrated and entered the Austrian service. 

In Mme. de Genlis he recognised the woman who 
was supposed to have been concerned in the in- 
famous libels against the Queen ; and who, with the 
wretched Egalite and his children, was seen watch- 
ing from the Palais Royal the procession, which, 
headed by the disloyal La Fayette, and surrounded 
by the drunken, howling ruffians, his followers, 
brought the royal family prisoners to Paris. 

Baron von Mack came to see them, told Mme. de 
Genlis they were recognised, but was very kind, 
said they might stay as long as they liked, and 
when the two girls were well enough to move, 
gave them passports to Switzerland. 

This journey they made in safety ; though for a 
few hours they skirted along the French outposts, 
saw in the distance a village on fire across the 
Rhine, and heard the continual roar of the guns. 

They were thankful indeed to find themselves at 
Schaffhausen, where they were joined by the Due 
de Chartres. It was fortunate for his sister that she 
did not remain with him ; he had been obliged to 



MADAME DE GENUS 443 

fly with Dumouriez two days after she left, through 
firing and dangers of all kinds ; and what would 
have become of a girl of sixteen, in a violent illness, 
with no one to look after her ? 

They stayed at Schaffhausen till they were rested, 
after seven days' journey, and then proceeded to 
Zurich, where they thought of establishing them- 
selves. But directly the magistrates heard the now 
accursed name of Orleans, all negotiations were at 
an end ; besides which the place was full of emigres, 
and they could not go out without being insulted 
and annoyed. 

They, therefore, removed to the little town of 
Zug, on the lake of that name, professing to be an 
Irish family and living in the strictest retirement. 
To any one who has seen the little town of Zug, 
it must, even now, appear remote and retired, but 
in those days it had indeed the aspect of a refuge 
forgotten by the world. Sheltered by the mighty 
Alps, the little town clusters at the foot of the steep 
slope covered with grass and trees, along the shores 
of the blue lake. A hundred years ago it must 
have been an ideal hiding place. 

They took a little house in a meadow looking 
down on the lake, and not even the authorities of 
the place knew who they were. 

Mme. de Genlis, however, found an opportunity 
of writing to the Duchess of Orleans in France ; 
the Duke was by this time arrested. 

Mme. de Genlis declares that at this time the 
Duchess was still free, and insinuates that she dis- 
played indifference to her daughte r in not replying 
to her letters. 



444 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

But Louis XVIII. in his Memoirs says : 

''A first decree, dated 4 April (1793), ordered the 
arrest of Madame la Duchesse d' Orleans, that woman, 
so virtuous, so worthy of a better fate ; then of 
Mme. de Montesson, of Mme. de Valence, daughter 
of Mme. de Genlis, and her children. A special 
clause added : The cltoyens Egalite and Sillery 
cannot leave Paris without permission." ^ 

And M. Turquan,2 in his life of Mme. de Mon- 
tesson, says : 

" Mme. de Montesson was arrested ... in virtue 
of a decree of the Convention of 4 April, 1793, . . . 
and on the 17th . . . was taken to the prison of 
La Force, from there she was transferred to the 
Maison d'arret Dudreneux, opposite her own hotel. 
From the windows of her new prison she had the 
consolation, if it was one, of contemplating her 
own garden, into which she could no longer put 
her foot. She had another, less bitter, her premiere 
feinme de chambre would not be separated from her, 
but followed her to prison, and in spite of many 
obstacles rendered her many services. . . . This 
admirable, devoted woman (Mme. Naudet) had left 
her children to follow her mistress to prison." 

It is therefore evident that at the time of which 
Mme. de Genlis is writing, the middle of May, the 
Duchess of Orleans was in prison. Also that the 
Marquis de Sillery, her husband, had not been 
detained in the Abbaye, as from his letter she had 
supposed, but was only under supervision till the 
7th of April. 

' " Memoiresde Louis XVIII.," t. v. p. 326. 

^ " Madame de Montesson," p. 277 (Joseph Turquan). 



MADAME DE GENLIS 445 

But with regard to dates Mme. de Genlis is 
exceedingly inaccurate ; in fact her statements are 
sometimes impossible. For instance, she says that 
they left Mons the 13th of April, arriving at Schaff- 
hausen the 26th of May, and that their journey took 
seven days ! Also that they arrived at Schaffhausen 
on the 26th of May, and then that they left that 
place for Zurich on May 6th . . . and went to Zug 
May 14. At any rate they appear to have been 
there late in May. The Duchess ^ was then in the 
prison of the Luxembourg, and the Duke and his 
two younger sons were imprisoned at Marseilles. 

It was no wonder they got neither money nor 
letters from the Orleans family, but Mme. de Genlis 
began to be uneasy about money matters. She 
could not get any remittances either ; and although 
her writings would certainly ultimately support her, 
she could take no steps about them while she was 
afraid to disclose her name. 

The story of her exile is indeed a contrast to that 
of Mme. Le Brun, who, with none of her advantages 
of rank and fortune, nothing but her own genius, 
stainless character, and charming personality, was 
welcomed, feted, and loved in nearly every court 
in Europe, whose exile was one long triumphant 
progress, and who found friends and a home 
wherever she went. 

But Mme. de Genlis discovered, when too late, 
that by her attempts both to run with the hare 
and hunt with the hounds, she had succeeded in 
making herself detested by both parties ; and now 

' After the fall of Robespierre and the Convention, the Duchess 
was released by the Directory and exiled to Spain. 



446 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

she waited in daily perplexity about money matters, 
and fear of the recognition which was not long in 
coming. 

They only went out to church and to take 
country walks, but after a time some emigres arrived 
at Zug, who, though they did not know them per- 
sonally, had seen the Due de Chartres at Versailles, 
recognised him, and spread the news all over the 
place. 

Mme. de Genlis had before pointed out to him 
this danger, but he was very anxious to be with 
his sister, the only one of his nearest relations left 
to him, and she did not like to press the matter. 
But he soon saw that they must separate. The 
magistrates at Zug behaved very well, saying that 
the little family gave no reason for complaint, on 
the contrary were kind to the poor, harmless and 
popular. 

But in a few days there were articles about them 
in the German papers ; letters from Berne to the 
authorities of Zug reproached them for receiving 
the son and daughter of the infamous Egalite ; the 
people of Zug disliked the attention so generally 
drawn upon them, the chief magistrate became 
uneasy, and as politely as he could asked them 
to go away. 

It was time. The day before they left a stone was 
thrown in at the window just where Mademoiselle 
d'Orleans had been sitting ; if it had struck her it 
might have killed her. It struck her hat which she 
had hung on the top of a chair. A shower of stones 
followed, breaking the windows and arousing the 
Due de Chartres and their only manservant, who 



MADAME DE GENLIS 447 

had gone to bed, and who rushed out into the 
garden, but only in time to hear the hurrying foot- 
steps of the escaping rascals. 

The next day they left Zug. M. de Chartres went 
to Coire, in the Engadine, where for fifteen months 
he gave lessons in mathematics in a college under 
an assumed name, while Mme. de Genlis and her 
two charges took refuge in a convent near the 
little town of Bremgarten, where they were admitted 
through M. de Montesquieu, another of the radical 
nobles obliged to flee from the tender mercies of 
his radical friends, of whom they had heard through 
M. de Montjoye, now living with his relations in 
Bale, when he had paid them a visit. 

In the convent they were safe and at peace, except 
for another illness of Mademoiselle d'Orleans, which 
left her so weak that Mme. de Genlis was afraid to tell 
her of the execution of her father in the November 
of 1794. She persuaded her not to read the French 
papers, telling her they were full of blasphemies and 
indecencies not fit for her to see. She had already 
received news of the execution of her husband, 
M. de Sillery, by which she was prostrated for a 
time. 

Philippe-Egalite had wearied Robespierre with 
his petitions to be released, and that worthy remarked 
to Fouquier-Tinville — 

" It seems that Egalite is tired of the fish of 
Marseilles that Milon appreciated so much. He 
wants to come to Paris." 

" Why prevent his coming back ? his affair will 
be settled all the sooner," was the answer.^ 
' " Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. v. p. 329. 



448 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

It was said that a locksmith, who was executed 
on the same day, would not get into the same cart 
with him, fearing that he "might be thought the 
accomplice of such a man." 

Mme. de Genlis put Mademoiselle d'Orl^ans into 
mourning, telling her that it was for the Queen, 
which she must of course wear, and it was some 
time before she discovered the truth. 

She had written to ask a refuge of her uncle, the 
Duke of Modena, who sent her some money, but 
said political reasons prevented his receiving her in 
his duchy. The poor child, naturally merry and 
high-spirited, had grown quiet and sad, though she 
bore without complaining the hardships of her lot. 

At last they heard that the Princesse de Conti 
was living near Fribourg, and it was arranged that 
she should take charge of her niece. She wrote an 
affectionate letter, and sent the Comtesse de Saint- 
Maurice-de-Pont to Bremgarten to fetch her. 

Mme. de Genlis, dreading the parting, shut herself 
up in her room on the morning of her departure, 
leaving a message that she had gone out for the 
day to avoid that grief. She had not told her the 
night before that the time had come for their 
separation. 

It was a great sorrow to them both, but was 
inevitable. Mademoiselle d'Orl^ans was rightly 
placed in the care of her own family, and the wan- 
dering, adventurous life led from this time by 
Mme. de Genlis was not desirable for the young 
princess. 




CHILLON 



To f^ce page 44S 



CHAPTER IX 

A wandering life — " The tyrant is no more " — Marriage of Henriette 
— Hamburg— Berlin — Antwerp — Brussels — Returns to France 
— Terrible changes — Shattered fortune — Literary success — 
The Empire — Napoleon — Mme. de Genlis and her friends — 
Death of Mme. de Montesson. 

IT will not be possible in a biography so short as 
this, to give a detailed account of the wander- 
ing, adventurous life led by Mme. de Genlis after 
the severance of her connection with the Orleans 
family. 

She had now only her niece, Henriette, with her, 
and they set out again upon their travels. M. de 
Valence, after serving the revolutionists, had been 
proscribed by them, and was living in exile at 
Utrecht. There, accordingly, they joined him, and 
set- up a joint menage, first there, afterwards at 
Altona and at Hamburg. 

It was whilst Mme. de Genlis was in Altona that 
she heard of the fall of Robespierre and the deliver- 
ance of her daughter. She was then living in a 
boarding-house, or inn, kept by a certain Mme. 
Piock, where she spent a good deal of time ; and 
about one o'clock one morning she was sitting up 
in her room, writing, when she suddenly heard a 

30 449 



450 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

violent knocking at her door, and the voice of M. de 
Kercy, a peaceable friendly acquaintance of hers, 
whose room was close by, called out — 

" Open the door ! Open the door I I must 
embrace you." 

Thinking he must have lost his senses she did 
nothing of the sort, and again he cried out — 

" It is you who will embrace me 1 Open the 
door ! Open the door ! " 

At length she did so, and M. de Kercy, flinging 
himself upon her neck, exclaimed — 

" The tyrant is no more ! Robespierre is dead ! " 

Mme. de Genlis some time afterwards married her 
niece, Henriette de Sercey, to a rich merchant in 
Hamburg, after which she went to Berlin, but 
where she was denounced to the King, accused, 
without truth, of receiving the Abbe de Sieyes, 
then in Berlin, and ordered to leave the Prussian 
territory. 

Then she went back to Hamburg, where she 
found her niece happy and prosperous, and where 
Lady Edward Fitzgerald, who was always devoted 
to her, came to pay her a visit, greatly to her 
delight. 

Next she went to Holstein with M. de Valence 
who left her in an old castle, with the owners of 
which she formed an intimate friendship, and after 
staying there some weeks she took rooms in a farm 
in the neighbourhood where she lived for a con- 
siderable time ; she had with her then as companion 
a young girl called Jenny, to whom she was much 
attached, and who nursed her devotedly through an 
illness. 



MADAME DE GENLIS 451 

Thus she wandered from place to place during 
the rest of her nine years of exile, generally under 
an assumed name ; going now and then to BerHn, 
after the King's death, and to Hamburg, which was 
full of emigres, but where she met M. de Talleyrand 
and others of her own friends. Shunned and 
denounced by many, welcomed by others, she made 
many friends of different grades, from the brother 
and sister-in-law of the King of Denmark to worthy 
Mme. Plock, where she lodged in Altona, and the 
good farmer in Holstein, in whose farmhouse she 
lived. The storms and troubles of her life did not 
subdue her spirits ; she was always ready for a new 
friendship, enjoying society, but able to do without 
it; taking an interest in everything, walking about 
the country in all weathers, playing the harp, 
reading, teaching a little boy she had adopted and 
called Casimir, and writing books by which she 
easily supported herself and increased her literary 
reputation. 

It was in the year 1801 that she received permis- 
sion to return to France. 

Taking leave of her friends, who implored her not 
to leave them, she started for Brussels, accompanied 
by her niece Henriette and Pamela, who went part 
of the way with her. At Antwerp she met her son- 
in-law, M. de Lawostine, who had been to visit her 
when she was living in Holstein. With her two 
sons-in-law she was always on the most friendly and 
affectionate terms. 

At Brussels she found her nephew, Cesar Ducrest, 
and, after nine years' separation, was reunited to her 
daughter, who accompanied her to Paris. 



452 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Mme. de Valence, whatever may have been the 
follies of her youth, was a woman generally beloved 
for her kind, affectionate, generous disposition, she 
was devoted to her mother and children, and Mme. 
de Genlis in her joy at seeing her and France again, 
to say nothing of the other relations and friends 
whose affection made so large a part of her 
happiness, was consoled for the sorrows of her past 
life. 

But her first impressions were very painful, not- 
withstanding her emotion when first she heard the 
people around her speaking French, saw the towers 
of Notre Dame, passed the barriere, and found her- 
self again driving through the streets of Paris. 

It was all so terribly changed, she could hardly 
believe that this was indeed the Paris of her youth, 
the ancient capital of a great monarchy, the centre 
of magnificence, elegance, and refinement. The 
churches were mostly closed, if not in ruins ; the 
statues of the saints were replaced by those of 
infidel philosophers ; the names of the streets were 
changed into others, often commemorating some 
odious individual or theory or deed of the Revolu- 
tion ; as to the convents the very names of 
" Jacobin," " Cordeliers," and others were associated 
with horror and bloodshed. The words palais and 
hotel having been forbidden by the Terrorists, 
maison ci-devant Conti, inaison ci-devant Bourbon, 
&c., were written upon the once splendid dwellings 
of those who were now murdered, wandering in 
exile or, like herself, just returning to their ruined 
homes, with shattered fortunes and sorrowful hearts. 
Everywhere, on walls and buildings were inscribed 



MADAME DE GENUS 453 

the mocking words liberie, eg/alte, fralernite, some- 
times with the significant addition, ou la inort. 

On the other hand things were much better than 
when, nine years ago she had driven out of Paris to 
Raincy on the eve of her long exile. The powerful 
arm of Napoleon had swept away the most horrible 
government that has ever existed in civilised times 
or countries ; people now could walk about in 
safety, and live without fear. 

If religious processions, and splendid carriages 
with six or eight horses preceded by piqueurs, were 
no longer to be seen in the streets, neither were 
mobs of drunken, howling, bloodthirsty ruffians, 
who would have been made short work of by the 
great First Consul who so firmly held the reins which 
had dropped from the feeble hands of Louis XVI. 

Unscrupulous, heartless, remorseless, yet he was 
a saint and angel compared to the frantic, raving, 
bloodstained miscreants whom he had displaced, 
and whose work he was now occupied in undoing 
as fast as he could. 

It required time and caution, even with him, in 
the disturbed state of the country ; but already some 
of the churches were beginning to open ; Madame 
Buonaparte held something extremely like a court 
at the Tuileries, at which any of the returning 
emigres who would go there were welcomed. And 
they were now returning in crowds, as fast as they 
could get themselves rayes.'^ 

Mile. Georgette Ducrest, a cousin of Mme. de 
Genlis, had emigrated with her family, who were 

' struck off the proscribed list. 



454 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

protected by Mme. de Montesson and Josephine, 
and now applied for radiation. 

M. Ducrest accordingly went with the usual 
request to Fouche, then minister of police, who 
replied — 

"Will you give me your certificate of residence ? 
all the emigrants have them and prove to me every 
day that they have never left France." 

" I cannot do that, citoyen ministre, I have no 
papers to show you except an old passport under 
another name, which I bought for twelve francs at 
Hamburg. I have been away from France eleven 
years. 

" What 1 You have no means of proving to me 
that you have been unjustly placed on the list ? " 

" Mordieu ! no." 

" Well in that case I will have you raye imme- 
diately for I am persuaded you have never left your 
country. All those who emigrated have given me 
so many proofs to the contrary that I am sure you 
are imposing upon me in an opposite sense, and that 
you never left Paris. You will receive your 
radiation in two days." 

Even the proscribed arms and liveries were begin- 
ning here and there to appear, and the leader in 
this revival was Mme. de Montesson. 

Far from being forced, as formerly, to keep in the 
background her marriage with the Duke of Orleans, 
it was for that very reason that she was high in the 
favour of the First Consul and the more en evidence 
she made it, the better it was for her. 

She did not bear the title, which indeed would 
not then have been permissible ; but the well-known 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 455 

arms and blue liveries of Orleans re-appeared on 
her carriages and in her hotel, the royal arms of 
Orleans were embroidered on the fine Saxon linen 
of her household, the gold plate and delicate Sevres 
china denounced by the Terrorists was to be seen at 
the princely entertainments at her hotel in the rue 
de Provence, where everything was done with the 
stately magnificence of former days, and whither 
every one of the old and new society was eager to be 
presented. 

The First Consul had restored her fortune to her, 
and treated her with more deference than he 
showed to any other woman ; she assumed royal 
prerogatives, never returning visits or rising to 
receive them, in fact she was considered and often 
called in society, the Duchess Dowager of Orleans. 

Mme. de Genlis went with M. de Valence to see 
her two days after her return, and was coldly 
received, but their relations to each other quickly 
returned to their usual terms. 

Mme. de Genlis had taken rooms close to the 
Chausse d'Antin, and began to look after her affairs, 
which were in a most dilapidated state. Nearly all 
the property she left at Belle Chasse had been con- 
fiscated, she could not get her jointure paid by the 
persons who had got hold of it, and though Sillery 
had been inherited by Mme. de Valence, to whom 
she had given up all her own share in it, Mme. de 
Valence had let her spendthrift husband waste the 
fortune and afterwards sell the estate to a General 
who married one of his daughters, and who partly 
pulled down the chateau and spoiled the place. 

She was therefore very badly off, though her 



456 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

writings were always quite successful enough to 
provide for her, but she could not be happy without 
perpetually adopting children : even now she had 
not only Casimir, who was always like a son to her, 
but an adopted daughter called Stephanie Alyon, 
and another whom she sent back to Germany. 

For more than a year she did not dare to pass 
the Palais Royal or to cross the place Louis XV., 
too many phantoms seemed to haunt and reproach 
her for the past. 

But time and circumstances were obliterating 
crimes and injuries by the side of which her faults 
were as nothing. Though it is satisfactory to think 
that numbers of the Revolutionists received the 
punishment due to their deeds, there were others 
who for some reason or other managed not only 
to escape but to prosper ; and with Fouche in a 
place of power and authority, what, might one ask, 
had become of all ideas of justice and retribution ? 

Mme. de Genlis, finding Paris too dear, moved to 
Versailles where she lived for a time, during which 
she had the grief of losing her nephew, Cesar 
Ducrest, a promising young officer, who was killed 
by an accident. 

She grew tired of Versailles, and returned to Paris, 
where the First Consul gave her an apartment at the 
Arsenal and a pension. 

A new era of prosperity, though of quite a different 
kind from the luxury, excitement, and splendour of 
her earlier life, now began for Mme. de Genlis. 
She opened a salon which was soon the resort of 
most of the interesting and influential people of the 
day. In the society of the Consulate and Empire 



MADAME DE GENLIS 457 

her early opinions and proceedings were not 
thought about, and her Hterary reputation was now 
great ; and besides countless new acquaintances 
many of her old friends were delighted to welcome 
her again. 

With Talleyrand she had always been on friendly 
terms. 

Napoleon had insisted upon his marrying Mme. 
Grandt, his mistress, who had always received his 
guests during the loose society lately prevalent : 
people said that since he had done so, his salon was 
not nearly so amusing. She was a pretty but 
extremely stupid person, always making some 
mistake. On one occasion the celebrated traveller, 
M. Denon, was going to dine with them, and 
Talleyrand told her to be sure to talk to him about 
his travels, adding — 

" You will find his book on the third shelf in the 
library ; look it over." 

Mme. de Talleyrand went to look for the book, 
but had by this time forgotten the title. Turning 
over several she came upon " Robinson Crusoe," 
thought that must be it, and read it eagerly ; in con- 
sequence of which, during dinner, she began to ask 
him about his shipwreck and the desert island, and 
to inquire after the faithful Friday. 

M. Denon, who could not imagine what she 
meant, looked at her in astonishment, only saying — 

" Madame ? " — when Talleyrand heard and inter- 
posed. 

Like all the other emigrees Mme. de Genlis was 
horrified at the strange manners and customs of the 
new society, largely composed of vulgar, unedu- 



458 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

cated persons, often enormously rich, exceedingly 
pretentious, and with no idea how to conduct 
themselves. 

Many of them occupied the old hotels of the 
ruined families of the ancien regime, in which their 
rough voices, strange language, manners and 
appearance contrasted as much with those of the 
former owners, as the new furniture, all gilding, 
costly stuffs and objects mixed incongruously 
together, did with the harmonious tapestries, an- 
cient heirlooms, and family portraits which they 
replaced. 

In the streets people recognised their own 
carriages turned into hackney coaches ; the shops 
were full of their things ; books with their arms, 
china, furniture, portraits of their relations, who 
had perhaps perished on the scaffold. Walking 
along the boulevard one day soon after her return to 
Paris she stopped at a shop, and on leaving her 
address, the lad who was serving her exclaimed — 

" Eh 1 you are at home then 1 " 

It was the hotel de Genlis, which for fifteen years 
had been the residence of her brother-in-law. She 
did not recognise it, as all the ground floor was 
divided and turned into shops 1 

Another day she received the visit of a woman 
who got out of a carriage the door of which was 
opened and shut by a negro dwarf, and who was 
announced as Mme. de Biras. 

Her dress was a caricature of the latest fashion, 
her manner was impertinently familiar. She first 
made a silly exclamation at being addressed as 
" madame " instead of " citoyeune," then she turned 



MADAME DE GENUS 459 

over the books on the table and when at length 
Mme. de Genlis politely explained that being very 
busy she could not have the honour of detaining 
her, the strange visitor explained the object of her 
visit. 

Her husband was a miller, who had, apparently 
by his manipulation of contracts given him for the 
army and by various corrupt practices, made an 
enormous fortune. He and his wife wished to 
enter society, but not having any idea what to 
do or how to behave, they wanted Mme. de Genlis 
to live with them as chaperon and teach them the 
usages of the world, offering her 12,000 francs 
salary and assuring her that she would be very 
happy with them as they had a splendid hotel in the 
rue St. Dominique, and had just bought an estate 
and chateau in Burgundy. She added that M. de 
Biras knew Mme. de Genlis, as he had lived on 
her father's lands. He was their miller ! ^ 

It was no wonder that Napoleon was anxious to 
get his court and society civilised, and the person 
to whom he chiefly turned for help and counsel in 
this matter was Mme. de Montesson, who knew all 
about the usages of great society and court etiquette. 

Neither Napoleon nor any of his family had at all 
the manners and customs suitable to the position in 
which he had placed them, and he was quite aware 
of the fact. His mother, as he said, could speak 
neither French nor Italian properly, but only a 
kind of Corsican patois, which he was ashamed to 
hear. He did everything he could to win over the 
emigres and those of the old noblesse who had re- 
' " Salons de Paris," t. iv. p. 85 (ed. Gamin), Duchesse d'Abrantes, 



46o HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

maiiied in France ; his great wish was to mingle 
the new noblesse he soon began to create with the 
faubourg St. Germain, and his great disappoint- 
ment and anger was excited by the non-success of 
his attempts. From the time he rose to supreme 
power he contemplated a court and a noblesse for 
the country and a crown for himself. And that a 
court formed out of the materials supplied by his 
generals and their families would be ridiculous he 
knew, and meant to avoid. 

" Above everything in France ridicule is to be 
avoided," he had remarked. 

Therefore he encouraged and promoted the 
marriages of his officers with the penniless 
daughters of the old families ; therefore he sent 
the only sister who was young enough to the 
school of Mme. Campan, formerly femme de 
chambre to Marie Antoinette, and gave that clever, 
astute woman his support and approbation. 

For the same reason he had, at the beginning 
of his career, married Josephine, Vicomtesse de 
Beauharnais ; it was true, as he afterwards de- 
clared that he loved her better than he ever loved 
any woman ; but all the same he had decided that 
his wife must be of good blood, good manners, 
and good society ; and although Josephine was by 
no means a grande dame, she was in a much better 
position than himself ; and her children's name, her 
social connections, her well-bred son and daughter, 
the charming manners and savoir faire of all three 
were then and for long afterwards both useful and 
agreeable to him. 

Always eager to marry his officers, he was often 
very peremptory about it. 



MADAME DE GENLIS 461 

At the time of the expedition to St. Domingo he 
desired to send Leclerc, the husband of his second 
sister, PauHne. Leclerc hesitated, then said he 
should be glad to go, but he had a tie which 
bound him to France. 

" Paulette ? " said Napoleon. " But she will 
follow you. I approve of her doing so ; the air 
of Paris does not agree with her, it is only fit for 
coquettes, a character unbecoming her. She must 
accompany you, that is understood." 

It was not Paulette, explained Leclerc, he would 
be distressed to leave her, but she would be safe 
and surrounded by her family. It was his young 
sister, now at school at Mme. Campan's, whom 
he could not leave unprotected, perhaps for ever. 
" I ask you, General, how can I ? " 

" Of course," replied Napoleon, " but you should 
find a marriage for her at once ; to-morrow ; and 
then go." 

" But I have no fortune, and " 

" What of that ? Cannot you depend upon me ? 
I desire you to make immediate preparations for 
your sister's marriage to-morrow. I cannot say 
yet to whom, but she shall be married, and well 
married." 

" But " 

" Have I not spoken plainly ? Say no more 
about it." 

Leclerc withdrew, and a few minutes afterwards 
Davoust came in to announce his intended marriage. 

"With Mile. Leclerc? I think it a very suitable 
match." 

" No, General, with Mme. " 



462 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

" With Mile. Leclerc ! I not only find the 
marriage suitable, I insist on its taking place 
immediately ! " 

" I have long loved Mme. , she is now free ; 

nothing shall make me give her up." 

" Nothing but my will ! " said Napoleon sternly. 
'' You will go at once to Mme. Campan's school 
at Saint-Germain ; on your arrival you will ask 
for your intended bride, to whom you will be 
presented by her brother. General Leclerc, who 
is now with my wife, and will accompany you. 

" Mile. Aimee shall come to Paris to-night. Order 
the wedding presents, which must be most costly, 
as I am to act as the young lady's father on the 
occasion. I shall provide the dot and wedding- 
dress, and the wedding will take place as soon 
as the legal formalities can be arranged. You now 
know my wishes, and have only to obey them." 

He rang the bell, and sent for Leclerc. 

" Well ! Was I wrong ? Here is your sister's 
husband. Go together to Saint-Germain, and don't 
let me see either of you until everything is arranged. 
I hate all talk of money affairs." 

Mute with astonishment they obeyed, and went 
to Saint-Germain, where Davoust was presented to 
Mile. Leclerc, whom he did not like at all. The 
marriage took place a few days afterwards. 

It was a change indeed from Louis XVL Every 
one trembled before Napoleon except his brother 
Lucien ; and perhaps his mother, who, however, 
never had the slightest influence over him. He re- 
quired absolute submission ; but if not in opposition 
to his will, he liked a high spirit and ready answer 



MADAME DE GENLIS 463 

in a young man, or woman either, and detested 
weakness, cowardice, and indecision. 

When he offered posts in the army to two 
brothers, who belonged to the old noblesse, and 
they refused, preferring to accept places at court, 
he exclaimed angrily — 

" I have been deceived ! It is impossible that 
those gentlemen can be descended from the 
brave C " 

Another time a certain M. de Comminges, who 
had b&en with him at the Ecole militaire, in reply 
to his question — 

" What have you been doing during the Revolu- 
tion ? Have you served ? " 

" No, Sire." 

"Ihen you followed the Bourbons into exile ?" 

" Oh ! no, Sire 1 I stayed at home and cultivated 
my little estate." 

"The more fool you, monsieur ! In these times 
of trouble every one ought to give his personal 
service one way or the other. What do you 
want now ? " 

"Sire, a modest post in the octroi of my little 
town would " 

" Very well, you shall have it ; and stay there 1 
Is it possible that I have been the comrade of 
such a man ? " 

For the Revolution, the royalists themselves 
could scarcely have entertained a deeper hatred 
and contempt. He would speak with disgust of 
its early scenes, of the weakness of the authorities, 
which he despised, and of the mob, which he 
abominated. 



464 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

Young and unknown, he had been present with 
Bourrienne on the 20th June, and seen the raving, 
frantic mob rushing upon the Tuileries. He 
followed with Bourrienne in a transport of in- 
dignation, and saw with contempt Louis XVI. at 
the window with a red cap on. He exclaimed — 

" How could they let that canaille pass in ! 
They should sweep away four or five hundred 
with cannon ; the rest would run." 

He was then twenty-three. 

Mme. de Genlis never went to the Imperial 
court, but led a quiet literary life ; quiet, that is 
to say, so far as the word can be applied to one 
whose salon was the resort of such numbers of 
people. 

Most of the Imperial Family used to go to her, 
but her chief friend among them was Julie, Queen of 
Spain, wife of Joseph Buonaparte, Napoleon's eldest 
brother. She was also very fond of Julie's sister, 
Desiree, wife of Marshal Bernadotte, afterwards 
Queen of Sweden. For Bernadotte she had the 
greatest admiration, saying that his appearance and 
manners were those of the old court. 

The Princess de Chimay, once Mme. Tallien, 
was also received by her with gratitude and friend- 
ship ; she never forgot that she had saved the life 
of Mme. de Valence, and in fact put an end to the 
Terror. I 

Mme. Le Brun, speaking of Mme. de Genlis, says, 
" Her slightest conversation had a charm of which 

' She said the Princess was still beautiful, extremely interesting, 
told thrilling stories of what she had seen in her strange life, but 
never spoke against any one. 



MADAME DE GENUS 465 

it is difficult to give an idea. . . . When she had 
discoursed for half an hour everybody, friends and 
enemies, were enchanted with her brilliant con- 
versation." 

Mme. de Montesson died in February, 1806, 
leaving the whole of her fortune to M. de Valence, 
except one or two trifling legacies and 20,000 francs 
to Mme de Genlis, and, as her brother was then not 
well off, Mme. de Genlis added her 20,000 francs 
to his. 



31 



CHAPTER X 

Interesting society — Anecdotes of the past Terror — Casimir — The 
Restoration — Madame Royale — Louis XVIII. — The coiffeur oi 
Marie Antoinette — The regicide— Return of the Orleans family 
— An asti'ologer — A faithful servant— Society of the Restora- 
tion — Isabey — Meyerbeer — Conclusion. 

ALL the great artists, musicians, actors, and 
literary people who had returned to Paris 
after the Terror came to the saloii of Mme. de 
Genlis ; and many were the strange and terrible 
stories they had to tell of their escapes and adven- 
tures. 

Talma had, in the kindness of his heart, concealed 
in his house for a long time two proscribed men. 
One was a democrat and terrorist, who had de- 
nounced him and his wife as Girondins. For 
after the fall of Robespierre the revolutionary 
government, forced by the people to leave off 
arresting women and children, let the royalists 
alone and turned their fury against each other. 
Besides this democrat who was hidden in the 
garret, he had a royalist concealed in the cellar. 
They did not know of each other's presence, and 
Talma had them to supper on alternate nights 

after the house was shut up. At last, as the 

466 



MADAME DE GENLIS 467 

terrorist seemed quite softened and touched and 
polite, Talma and his wife thought they would 
venture to have them together. At first all went 
well, then after a time they found out who each 
other were ; and on some discussion arising, their 
fury broke forth — 

" Only a royalist would say that ! " 

" Only a terrorist could speak so ! " 

" You speak like a villain ! " 

" You think like a scoundrel ! " 

" If ever we get the upper hand 1 " 

" If ever we get our revenge ! " 

They both sprang up, declaring it was better to 
die than to stay with such a monster, and left 
the room. 

After this Talma kept them separate ; they were 
in the house several weeks unknown to each other 
until it was safe for them to be let out.^ 

Even among the revolutionists there was some- 
times a strange mixture of good and evil. The 
Auvergnat deputy Soubrany was proscribed by his 
friends, and met Freron in the street, who said — 

" What are you doing here ? We have just 
proscribed you 1 " 

" Proscribed me ? " 

" Yes. Save yourself ; come to my house, you 
can hide safely ; they won't look for you there. 
Only make haste." 

" I can't, I must go home." 

" Why ? It will be putting your head in the 
wolf's mouth." 

" I must go back to my house. An emigre is 
I " Souvenirs d'un Sexagenaire " (Arnault), 



468 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

hidden there. I alone know the secret of his 
hiding-place ; if I do not let him out he will be 
starved to death." 

He returned in time to save the emigre, but not 
himself.'^ 

Mme. de Genlis was very happy at the Arsenal 
with Casimir and a little boy named Alfred, whom 
she had adopted. 

Casimir was already seventeen, a great comfort, 
and very popular. He had been on a visit to 
London, when, as he returned with Prince Ester- 
hazy, who had a boat of his own, he had a message 
at Dover from Pamela begging him to go to her. 
Since the arrest and death of Lord Edward Fitz- 
gerald she had married Mr. Pitcairn, American 
Consul at Hamburg, but was overwhelmed with 
debts, and for some reason insisted on coming to 
Paris. She was hiding from her creditors, and 
appealed to Casimir, who gave her fifty louis and 
hid her on board the boat. She had with her her 
daughter by Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and stayed 
some time at Paris, in spite of the representations 
of Mme. de Genlis that she ought to go back to her 
husband at Hamburg. 

For nine years Mme. de Genlis lived at the 
Arsenal, and then moved to another apartment, 
but was always surrounded with friends and con- 
sideration. Except amongst her immediate rela- 
tions and adopted children, she was not so deeply 
loved as Mme. Le Brun, or even the eccentric 
Mme. de Stael, but her acquaintance and friend- 
ship was sought by numbers of persons, French 
' " Souvenirs d'un Sexagenaire " (Arnault). 



MADAME DE GENLIS 469 

and others, who were attracted by her books, 
conversation, musical, and other talents. 

With the fall of the Empire departed her pension 
and all assistance from the Government. 

She had long renounced and repented of her 
proceedings of former days, and was now extremely 
royalist, but the daughter of Marie Antoinette was 
not likely to receive one who had been, if not 
implicated, at any rate hand-and-glove with the 
enemies of her mother. 

With the deepest reluctance Louis XVIII. yielded 
to what he was assured to be an absolute necessity 
and allowed, as Napoleon had found it necessary to 
allow, more than one even of the regicides, who 
had survived and were powerful, to hold office 
during his reign. Their powerful support was 
declared to be indispensable to the safety of the 
monarchy, and the union of parties which he 
hoped to achieve. 

But, except in cases of absolute political necessity 
and at the entreaty of him, who was now not 
only her uncle and adopted father, but her king, 
the Duchesse d'Angouleme would receive no one 
who had in any way injured her mother. She 
would have nothing to do with Mme. de Stael, 
and would not even receive Mme. Campan, be- 
cause she did not believe she had been always 
thoroughly loyal to her ; though in that many 
people said she was mistaken. Mme. Campan, in 
her memoirs, professes the greatest affection and 
respect for her royal mistress, and during the 
Empire, she always kept in her room a bust of 
the Queen. 



470 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

On the other hand, any one who had been 
faithful and loyal to her parents, now met with 
their reward. 

There was at Versailles a certain Laboulle, 
coiffeur to Louis XV., and to Marie Antoinette 
when the Dauphine. He invented a perfume 
which he called eau Antoinette, and which was so 
much in vogue that he opened a perfume shop 
at Versailles, which was patronised by Louis XVL 
and Marie Antoinette when they came to the 
throne. He married, and the Queen was very 
kind to his wife, whom she used to employ in 
her various charities ; and was devoted to her. 

It is satisfactory to know that the brutal, dastardly 
conduct of the Versailles populace was at any rate 
punished, in a way they probably had not thought 
of. The departure of the King and court ruined 
the place, before so prosperous. The population 
shrunk to a third of its former numbers. 

The Laboulle moved to Paris, and opened a shop 
at 83, rue de la Roi, afterwards rue Richelieu, which 
soon became the centre of Royalist plots. 

During the captivity of the Queen, Mme. Laboulle 
was always trying to get to her and very often suc- 
ceeded ; when she always took her some of the 
perfume. These excellent people saved the lives 
of numbers of royalists, and how they them- 
selves escaped the guillotine, only Providence 
can tell. When the surviving members of the 
royal family returned, the Duchesse d'Angouleme 
sent for her, expressed her deep gratitude, and 
always loved and protected her. 

The saintly character of the Duchess, however. 




Jiraditt/ie ritre'e Li Kritn 



MADAME ROYALE 



To/ace pno-c ^jo 



MADAME DE GENLIS 471 

made her forgive and even help those who re- 
pented and suffered, even though they had been 
the bitterest enemies of her family.^ 

During her exile in England, she was in the 
habit of visiting and helping the French who were 
poor or sick, and one day being in a hospital, and 
seeing a French soldier evidently very ill, she spoke 
to him with compassion and offered him money, 
which he refused, with a strange exclamation, 
apparently of horror. 

" Take it, mon ami," she said, "I am your country- 
woman, you need not be ashamed to receive a little 
help from me." 

" I know you are French, Madame," he muttered 
with embarrassment. 

" You know me, then ? " 

" Yes, Madame." 

" Well, then, that is all the more reason why you 
should not refuse what I offer you." 

" On the contrary, Madame " he stammered. 

"Comment! on the contrary? What do you 
mean ? Tell me." 

" I cannot explain," said the man uneasily. 

" I entreat you to tell me ; have you anything 
against me ? " 

The soldier burst into tears. 

" You are suffering," said the Duchess ; " come 
confide in me, we are both French in a foreign 
land, and ought to help and comfort each 
other." 2 

" Alas ! Madame, the sight of you recalls to me a 

' " Salons d'Autrefois " (Ctsse. de Bassanville). 
= Ibid. 



472 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

recollection so fearful, that I would give my life to 
blot it out of my memory. I was one of those who 
beat the drums in the place de la Revolution on the 
27th January." 

The Princess turned pale, trembled, and held out 
the gold, saying — 

" In the name of him who is gone, I bring you 
this help ; he loved all Frenchmen." 

And she turned away, leaving the soldier in tears. 

When Madame Royale was at last released from 
prison, she did not know the fate of her brother 
and her aunt, Madame Elizabeth. On hearing 
that they were dead, she declared that she did 
not wish to live herself ; but her heart soon 
turned to her French relations, and her one wish 
was to get to them. 

She was, however, first sent to her mother's 
family in Austria, where she was received, of 
course, with great affection, but kept as much as 
possible from seeing even the French emigres, of 
whom there were so many in Austria. The 
Austrian plan was to marry her to one of the 
archdukes, her cousins, and then claim for her 
the succession to Burgundy, Franche Comte, and 
Bretagne ; to all of which she would, in fact, have 
had a strong claim if France could have been 
dismembered ; as these provinces all went in the 
female line, and had thus been united to the 
kingdom of France. 

Of course the plan was visionary, and the 
provinces had been so long incorporated into 
France, that even if the allies had consented to 
the dismemberment, the nation would never have 
submitted to it. 



MADAME DE GENUS 473 

It would have perhaps been no wonder if, after all 
she had suffered in France, she had identified her- 
self with her mother's family, and in another home 
and country forgotten as far as she could the land 
which must always have such fearful associations 
for her. But it was not so. Her father had told her 
that she was to marry no one but her cousin, the 
Due d'Angouleme, who, failing her brother, would 
succeed to the crown ; and had written to the same 
effect to his brother the Comte de Provence. 

The Princess had therefore, as soon as she could 
get away from Austria, joined her uncles and aunts 
and married the Due d'Angouleme, concentrating 
all her affection upon those remaining members of 
her family, who received her with the deepest joy 
and tenderness. 

Louis XVIII. says of her — 

"Madame Royale united all the virtues of her 
own sex with the energy of ours. She alone would 
have been able to reconquer our sceptre if, like her 
grandmother, Marie Therese, she had had the 
command of an army. . . ." 

Of their entry into Paris, he says — 

" I was in an open carriage with Madame Royale 
by my side,i MM. de Conde were opposite ; my 
brother and the Due de Berri rode by us . . . 
the Due d'Angouleme was still in the south ... I 
saw nothing but rejoicing and goodwill on all 
sides ; they cried ' Vive le Roi ! ' as if any other 
cry were impossible. . . . The more I entreated 
Madame Royale to control her emotion, for we 
were approaching the Tuileries, the more diffi- 
' The Comtesse de Provence had died in exile. 



474 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

cult it was for her to restrain it. It took all her 
courage not to faint or burst into tears in the 
presence of all these witnesses. ... I myself was 
deeply agitated, the deplorable past rising before 
me. ... I remembered leaving this town twenty- 
three years ago, about the same time of year at 
which I now returned, a King. ... I felt as if I 
should have fallen when I saw the Tuileries. I 
kept my eyes away from Madame Royale for fear 
of calling forth an alarming scene. I trembled 
lest her firmness should give way at this critical 
moment. But arming herself with resignation 
against all that must overwhelm her, she entered 
almost smiling the palace of bitter recollections. 
When she could be alone the long repressed 
feelings overflowed, and it was with sobs and a 
deluge of tears that she took possession of the 
inheritance, which in the natural course of events 
must be her own. 

" How thankful I was to find myself alone in the 
room occupied first by my brother, then by Buona- 
parte, to which I came back after so long an ab- 
sence : absolute solitude was a necessity to my 
mind. I prayed and groaned without interruption, 
which relieved me ; then I resolved irrevocably to act 
in such a manner as never to expose France or my 
family to the Revolution which had just ended. . . , 
I lay down in the bed of Buonaparte, it had also 
been that of the martyr king, and at first I could 
not sleep . . . like Richard III. I saw in a vision 
those I had lost, and in the distance enveloped 
in a sanguinary cloud I seemed to see menacing 
phantoms." ^ 

'■ " Memoires de Louis XVIII.," t. ix. pp. 57-61. 



MADAME DE GEN LIS 475 

With the King returned those that were left of 
the Orleans family. The best of the sons of Egalite, 
the Comte de Beaujolais had died in exile, so 
also had the Due de Montpensier. The Duchess 
Dowager, saintly and good as ever, Mademoiselle 
d'Orleans and the Due de Chartres remained. 
Both the latter had made their submission and ex- 
pressed their repentance to the King, who in accepting 
the excuses of the Due de Chartres said — 

" Monsieur, you have much to do to repair the 
crimes of your father. I have doubtless forgotten 
them, but my family, but France, but Europe will 
find it difficult not to remember them. ... In 
accepting the name of Egalite you left the family 
of Bourbon, nevertheless I consent to recall you 
into it. . . . Due d'Orleans, it is finished, from 
to-day alone we will begin to know each other." 

The Duke wished to make his excuses to Madame 
Royale, but she said it would be long before she 
could bear to see him.^ 

Mme. de Genlis was received with affection by 
her old pupils, and had a pension from them 
during the rest of her life. 

The Due d'Orleans, leaving the room when she 
came to see them, returned, bringing his young 
wife, who said graciously, " Madame, I have always 
longed to know you, for there are two things I love 
passionately, your pupils and your books." 

Mme. de Genlis, though she did not go much 
into society, being now exceedingly royalist, was 

' " Souvenirs de Louis XVIII.," t.vii. pp. 395-7. This interview 
took place at Mittau at the intercession of the Duchess Dowager 
of Orleans and the Emperor of Russia. 



476 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

presented at court, and must have recalled those 
far off days when she drove down to Versailles 
with Mme. de Puisieux to be presented to the 
magnificent Louis XV. 

A curious story is told, that at the time when 
Louis XIV. was building the palace of Versailles, 
his then all-powerful mistress, Mme. de la Val- 
liere, said to him that he must, according to the 
custom, have the horoscope cast of the palace. He 
laughed at her superstition, but told her he would 
leave the matter to her. She accordingly consulted 
an astrologer, who said, " After a hundred years the 
kings of France will leave Versailles." 

" Will they ever return ? " she asked, to which he 
replied — 

" No ; the people will not allow it." 

Louis XIV., to whom the idea of the people 
" allowing " the King to do anything he chose 
must have appeared ludicrous, replied that their 
love for their King would, indeed, be excessive if 
they would not bear him out of their sight, and 
ended by saying — 

" I envy my successors ! " 

The tone of society was entirely different during 
the Restoration from that of the Empire. The 
lavish expenditure in entertainments, dress, and 
daily life was no longer the fashion. An expen- 
sive toilette at any but a very great festivity was 
no longer correct, and even at court the extrava- 
gant splendour of the costumes of the Imperial 
court was not encouraged. The principal people 
were no longer those who possessed enormous 
fortunes which they were eager to spend ; the 



MADAME DE GENUS 477 

nobles and gentlemen whose names were the most 
distinguished at the court of Louis XVIII. being 
most of them nearly if not quite ruined. 

Their property had been confiscated, their estates 
seized, and their hotels and chateaux either burnt or 
sold. 

In some cases it was possible to recover part, 
though often only a fragment of their possessions ; 
in other cases not : it depended to a great extent 
what or who the forfeited estates belonged to. 
Sometimes, as in the case of the Duchess d'Ayen, 
people who had not emigrated, were allowed, 
even if they were murdered, to leave their estates 
to their families ; but the whole state of things 
seemed an inextricable confusion impossible to 
explain ; especially in a work of this kind. 

Many cases there were of romantic devotion and 
loyalty, by which the property of a family had 
been partly saved for the owners by their faithful 
servants. Such was the story of the Marquis 

de , whose castle was burnt, and who with 

his wife perished in the flames. Their two boys 
managed to escape, but not together. One took 
refuge in England ; the other in Germany, neither 
of them knowing of the existence of the other. 

When the Revolution was over, they both came 
back to France and strange to say, met and 
recognised each other at the ruins of their own 
chateau. While they stood mournfully gazing at 
them, a regiment of cavalry passed by. The eyes 
of the commander fell upon them, and suddenly he 
ordered the regiment to halt, and calling the two 
young men, said — 



47S HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

"Are you not the MM. ?" 

On hearing that they were, he remarked — 

" I am afraid, Messieurs, that you are very badly 
off." 

They could not deny this ; and to their astonish- 
ment the officer, hurriedly saying that he was born 
on their estate, pressed a purse of gold into the hand 
of one and marched off. The country was still in a 
state of anarchy and they never could discover who 
their benefactor was. 

They stood in astonishment looking after the 
soldiers, and then turning, walked sorrowfully back 
to the ruins, where a decently dressed working man 
who had been observing them, came up and again 
asked them the same question. 

"Are you not the MM. de ?" 

" Yes, we are," replied the brothers. 

" Well, I am . I was head-gardener at the 

chateau in the old time, and now, Messieurs, if you 
will honour me by coming to my house and 
accepting some refreshment, I will show you 
something that will surprise you." 

The young men gladly went in, and after giving 
them an excellent dejeuner, their host lighted a 
candle, took a spade, and told them to follow 
him. He led them into the garden, cleared away 
some earth with his spade, and uncovered a stone. 
This he lifted up, disclosing an underground 
passage through which he led the way. It 
ended in a cavern in which lay the whole of 
their family plate and valuables which this excel- 
lent man had saved and concealed during all these 
years. 



MADAME DE GENUS 479 

" Here is the family plate which I was able to 
secure for you," said he. " I always kept it in hope 
of your return." 

Overcome with joy and gratitude the eldest 
brother, to whom according to the custom of their 
family it all belonged, divided the property, which 
was immensely valuable, into three portions, giving 
one to his brother, one to the faithful gardener, and 
keeping one himself, with the proceeds of which 
they each bought an estate. The sons of the 
gardener, who were educated with their own, 
became, one a successful merchant, the other an 
officer in the French Navy.' 

There was, of course, a great mixture of new and 
old, many quarrels and much ill-feeling : increased 
by the extreme animosity and pretensions on both 
sides. 

The emigres were not likely to forget the murder 
of those dear to them, their long years of poverty 
and exile, and to see with patience their homes 
and possessions in the hands of strangers. 

The newly risen were uneasy and jealous of the 



' This story, which has never before been published, was told me 
by a member of the family of the Marquis in question. Although 
many of the worst of the revolutionists were domestic servants, 
there were numbers who displayed the most heroic loyalty and 
affection. I myself saw many years ago, when dining in Paris at 

the house of a legitimist, the Due de , an old butler who was 

pointed out to me by one of the family as having been employed 
when six years old in La Vendee to carry food to a priest hidden 
among the hills. On one occasion he was caught by a party of 
revolutionist soldiers who threatened him with instant death 
unless he betrayed the priest's hiding place. Pour Dieu et le Roi 
(For God and the King) was all the child would say, and one of the 
men, touched by his tender age, spared him. (Note by author.) 



48o HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

emigres, and not unnaturally irritated at the provo- 
cation they often gave them and the scorn with 
which they were not seldom treated. 

Louis XVIII. had enough to do to hold the 
balance between those who wanted everything put 
back exactly as it was before '89, and those who 
were in continued fear of the revival of the old 
state of things. However, he managed to do so, 
and kept his crown, which unfortunately his 
successor could not. 

It is a singular thing that all the three races, 
Capetien, Valois, and Bourbon should have ended 
with three brothers. 

The Marquis de Boissy, a devoted Royalist with a 
long pedigree, went to one of the court balls in the 
dress of a Marquis of the court of Louis XV. 
On one of the princes of the blood observing to 
him — 

" That is a curious dress of yours. Monsieur," he 
replied, looking round the ball room : 

" It is a dress that belonged to my grandfather, 
Monseigneur ; and I think that if every one here 
had got on the dress of his grandfather, your 
Highness would not find mine the most curious 
in the room." 

Mme. de Genlis had friends amongst old and 
new, French and foreign. The Vernets, Mme. Le 
Brun, Mme. Grollier, Gros, Gerard, Isabey, 
Cherubini, Halevy, all the great singers and 
musicians were among her friends. She lived to 
see the first years of the brilliant, too short career 
of Malibran. Pasta, Grassini, Talma, Garat, and 
numbers of other artistic celebrities mingled with 




JUDITH PASTA 



MADAME DE GENUS 481 

her literary friends. The household of Isabey was 
like an idyl. He had met his wife in the Luxem- 
bourg gardens, a beautiful girl who went there to 
lead about her blind father. They married and 
were always happy though for a long time poor. 
But the fame of Isabey rose ; he was professor of 
painting at the great school of Mme. Campan, where 
every one under the Empire sent their daughters. 
He painted Josephine and all the people of rank 
and fashion, and received them all at his parties in 
his own hotel. Mme. Isabey lived to be eighty- 
eight, always pretty and charming. Her hair was 
white, she always dressed in white lace and muslin, 
and had everything white in her salon, even to an 
ivory spinning wheel. 

They went a great deal into society and to the 
court balls under Napoleon ; and Isabey used to 
design her dresses and make them up on her in this 
way : when her hair was done and she was all 
ready except her dress, he would come with a great 
heap of flowers, ribbons, gauze, crepe, &c., and 
with scissors and pins cut out and fasten on the 
drapery according to his taste so skilfully that it 
never came off, and looked lovely. On one occasion 
when they were not well off he cut out flowers of 
gold and silver paper and stuck them with gum 
upon tulle ; it was pronounced the prettiest dress in 
the room. 

Before the coronation of Napoleon, the latter 
said to him, " Make two large water-colour sketches 
of the procession with correct costumes, every one 
in their right place. I will send them to study 
your designs, which will be exhibited in the great 

32 



482 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

gallery of the Tuileries, so that there may be no 
confusion." 

" Sire, when are these two pictures to be 
exhibited ? " 

"The day after to-morrow." 

Isabey bought boxes full of little dolls, masses of 
materials and pins ; dressed them all from the 
Empress to the last page, and after working two 
days and nights went to the Tuileries. 

*' Ah ! there you are, Isabey. You have brought 
me the designs I ordered ? " 

" A pen pres, Sire," and he pointed to a heap of 
enormous cases in the courtyard, which in about an 
hour he had arranged in the gallery in perfect 
order, much to the delight of the Emperor, who 
burst into a fit of laughter when he saw 
them. 

After the alarms of the Hundred Days and all the 
misfortunes involved, it took some time to restore 
order and security. For a long time the Champs- 
Elysees were not safe to walk in after dark. 

One morning the concierge of an isolated house 
there was asked by a tall, thin man in black, with a 
strange look whether there was not a pavilion in 
the garden to let. 

"Yes, sir." 

"Is it quite out of the way of every one ? " 

" Very far, sir." 

"So that one would be quite alone? No one 
could hear anything that went on there ? " 

The concierge did not half like this, but winter 
was coming on and a pavilion in the middle of a 
large garden was difficult to let. 



MADAME DE GENUS 483 

" I will take it for three months, here is the rent 
in advance and a lotiis besides. Keep the key. I 
will come in this evening. If any friends arrive 
before, take them there and ask them to wait till 
I come." 

" Monsieur has forgotten to tell me his name." 

" Name ! Oh ! my name is the devil," and he 
hurried away. 

After dark a man wrapped in a great cloak, under 
which he carried some large thing, his hat pulled 
over his eyes, rang and said " The Devil." 

The pavilion was pointed out, and several others 
followed, all with cloaks concealing more large 
objects. 

" It cannot be Satan," said the wife of the concierge, 
" but it may be conspirators." 

" It is a gang of assassins," said he, " bringing 
bodies of victims to bury in the garden." Just then 
the man who had hired the pavilion came in ; the 
wife followed him and rushed back pale with 
terror. 

" Go and fetch the police ! go quick ! They are 
murdering some one. I heard cries, groans, and 
chains ! Run, if you want to save him from these 
wretches ! " 

Hurrying away, the concierge soon re-appeared 
with the police and two soldiers. They proceeded 
to the pavilion ; the door was locked, and just then 
a strange cry arrested their attention. They beat 
at the door ordering it to be opened, which it 
immediately was by a man, who said — 

" What are you doing here ? What do you 
want ? " 



484 HEROINES OF FRENCH SOCIETY 

" What are you about yourself ? I am a police 
officer, and I arrest you in the King's name as a 
criminal." 

" You arrest me as a criminal ? and for what ? " 
while a burst of laughter was heard inside. 

"Come, Monsieur," said the police official, 
" I see there is some mistake. What is your 
name ? " 

" Meyerbeer, but that does not tell you much." 

" But what is your country and profession ? " 

" I am German, a composer of music, I see no 
harm in all that." 

" Nor I either," said the police officer, laughing ; 
" but why then did you say you were the devil, and 
what are you and your companions doing ? " 

They let him in, and he saw musicians with desks 
and instruments, practising for the infernal scene in 
" Robert le Diable," which Meyerbeer was going to 
bring out, and which sufficiently accounted for the 
chains, groans, and cries of that celebrated 
chorus. 

Mme. de Genlis lived to see her great-grand- 
children, and also to see her pupil, the Due de 
Orleans, upon the throne. She had never, of course, 
again the life of riches and splendour which for 
many years she had enjoyed ; but she was philoso- 
phical enough not to trouble herself much about 
that ; she had the interest of her literary pursuits, 
a large circle of acquaintances, the affection of her 
family and of her adopted children. Alfred turned 
out extremely well, and Casimir made an excellent 
marriage, settled at Mantes and devoted himself to 
good works, so that his adopted mother said his 




MALIBRAN 



To face page 484. 



MADAME DE GENLIS 485 

household was saintly. She was always welcome 
there. 

The errors of her youth she abandoned and 
regretted, and her latter years had by no means the 
dark and gloomy character that she had pictured to 
herself, when she left the Palais Royal and fled from 
France and the Revolution, in whose opening acts 
she had rejoiced with Philippe-Egalite. 



Ubc Oreebam preee, 

UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, 
WOKING AND LONDON. 



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